The wind energy sector continues growing rapidly even under the pandemic, as an estimated 93GW wind capacity was installed in 2020 globally. After installation, wind turbines are expected to run around 20-25years, during which O&M (operation and maintenance) becomes crucial in maximising the economic and environmental benefits of wind assets. This project aims to develop a complete solution for robotic based inspection and repair of wind turbine blades (WTBs), both onshore and offshore. Firstly, we will integrate thermography and shearography with laser heating, so that advanced lock-in techniques will be achieved for in-situ inspection of both surface and subsurface defects within WTBs. (Current techniques including drone-based are limited to surface defects only). Secondly, a compact and efficient robotic deployment system will be developed which will hold the inspection unit and a robotic repair arm. The robotic system will be operated by engineers working on ground (for onshore wind farms) or on a vessel (for offshore wind farms). When defects are detected and deemed reparable, the repair arm of the whole system will be activated to rapidly repair the faulty area of composite components by resistance welding for joining and/or disassembly. Comparing to the traditional adhesively bonding for repair, the proposed resistance welding with optimised processing would significantly reduce the curing cycles/time with much fewer preparation for surface treatment steps while it will be more easily designed to integrate with robotic arm. The whole system will be operated remotely by engineers working on ground or on a vessel without risking their lives working in the sky on WTBs. Field trials on wind towers will be conducted to validate the system.

Recognising that current storage solutions are unable to stabilize enough the intermittent renewable energy production, new long term energy storage solutions are becoming mandatory. Current long-term energy storage is mainly provided by Pumped-Storage Hydroelectricity (PSH). Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) has appeared for decades as a credible alternative but its poor energy efficiency, the need of fossil fuels and the use of existing underground cavities as storage reservoirs have limited its development. Variations to CAES have shown low efficiency, losing a big percentage of energy as heat and mechanical losses. Since the 2010s, there is a strong revival of scientific and industrial interest on CAES, led by China and the European Union (EU). For the EU, leading the new generation of high-efficient, low climate-impact and long-term energy storage research, is key to increase its energy independency. In this context, the main objective of Air4NRG is the development of an innovative, efficient (over 70% RTE), long- term, and sustainable CAES prototype, which can enhance renewable energy availability and offers robustness and safety while increasing cost effectiveness and improving the environmental footprint. At the same time, it will promote innovation and competitiveness in the European energy storage industry, while prioritizing the principles of circular economy and environmental sustainability. Another key factor of the solution is the integrability to the electrical grid system and their intelligent EMS, which will be proven by the end of the project through end user integration activities (TRL5). The project will result in two prototypes: one of them will be a plug and play system fitting into a standard 40ft container with an over ten- hours storage duration, while the other will be a larger-scale system of 200kW with the same duration of storage. The developed system is a rare material-free solution with simple industrial infrastructure needs, allowing its full development within the EU, strengthening Europes position in the energy storage system sector.

The AmBIENCe project aims at extending the concept of Energy Performance Contracting to Active Buildings and making it available and attractive to a wider range of buildings. AmBIENCe will provide new concepts and business models for performance guarantees of Active Buildings, combining savings from energy efficiency measures with additional savings and earnings resulting from the active control of assets leveraging for instance price based incentive contracts (Implicit Demand Response). The willingness to invest in additional sensorisation, ICT an IoT will be increased by offering adjacent other-than-energy services, e.g. related to comfort, security or maintenance. Within the course of AmBIENCe, we will leverage the experience of the project’s business and research partners, and extend this through regional workshops where we will bring together various stakeholders to make an assessment of best practices and learnings. Based on this, an integrated modular concept will be proposed, and a proof-of-concept platform will be developed, to support the creation of Active Building Performance Contracts.

Although decentralized and utility-scale renewable energy sources have grown, the EU must speed up their deployment to meet decarbonisation targets. Outdated grid infrastructure, limited system flexibility, complex regulatory frameworks, and rising NIMBY attitudes hinder the full market integration of these plants, affecting their business models and service monetization. Addressing these issues is essential for both facilitating the deploying of new utility-scale RES plants and maintaining previously existing ones and its viability. To achieve this, LUMENS will implement a comprehensive strategy built on three key pillars: (1) Establishing a multi-actor engagement framework to ensure a strong stakeholder dialogue and capacity building, providing the project with valuable feedback from the sector. (2) Creating a dynamic repository of knowledge transfer materials (KTM), including success stories and recommendations based on a portfolio of cases that will be studied throughout the development of LUMENS, as well as an open-source toolkit composed by analytical and decision-support tools that will aid in a variety of aspects, such as location, sizing, hybridization or market performance prediction of a RES plant. (3) Executing a continuous knowledge transfer strategy that promotes direct interaction with key international market players. With a consortium of nine partners from seven EU countries, including market operators, power system operators, RES promoters, and multidisciplinary research experts, LUMENS is well backed up to develop actionable insights for optimizing key factors including the planning, location, operation, and monetization of utility-scale RES plants among others. Ultimately, LUMENS seeks to enhance the competitiveness of RES plants in the EU energy market, particularly utility-scale infrastructures, by promoting secure, cost-effective energy solutions and advancing the path toward net-zero emissions.

Hydrogen Offshore Production for Europe (HOPE) intents to pave the way for the deployment of large-scale offshore hydrogen production. To this aim, HOPE will design, build and operate the first offshore hydrogen production demonstrator of 10MW by 2025 in an offshore test zone near the port of Oostende in Belgium. The two-years demonstration of a mid-scale concept on a retrofitted jack-up barge will prove the technical and commercial sustainability of renewable offshore hydrogen production, export by pipelines and supply to end-clients onshore. It will also provide an extensive experience to assess the feasibility of 300MW and 500MW offshore concepts. The experience gathered by the consortium members and the maturity levels reached at the end of the project will enable the deployment of commercial large-scale solutions as soon as 2028. HOPE gathers a unique consortium of European players with cutting-edge expertise across the whole hydrogen value chain: an offshore wind power developer, a renewable hydrogen producer, an electrolyser manufacturer, a desalination solutions manufacturer, an offshore hydrogen pipes manufacturer, a research centre, a regional development agency, a strategic consultancy and a renewables communication agency. HOPE will produce a large range of exploitable results including not only detailed designs of replicable offshore hydrogen technologies, operational data and resulting analyses from a first-of-a-kind project but also pre-feasibility studies and techno-economic assessments of two large-scale concepts. Through an ambitious dissemination and exploitation plan, the consortium intends to accelerate the deployment of large-scale offshore hydrogen solutions to contribute to reach the 10 Mt of clean hydrogen produced in Europe by 2030 to decarbonize the European economy and reach our climate goals.