Europe launches €40 million call for demonstration of tidal energy farms

The European Union has launched a funding call under its Horizon Europe program, looking for tidal energy farm demonstration projects, as it aims to improve market confidence and sustainability of tidal energy technology.

The €40 million call aims to support two projects that will de-risk tidal energy technology development and increase bankability and insurability of tidal energy through the development of sustainable tidal energy pilot farms.

According to the European Union, the demonstration of sustainable tidal energy pilots in full operational conditions for long periods of time is essential to advance this sector.

It also presents the way to bridge the gap from technology development to market development while reducing costs and risks and attracting investors for future commercial projects.

The farms, with minimum 4MW installed capacity and at least four tidal energy converters, are expected to be composed of several devices of the same series.

Also, the tidal energy farms have to be connected to the electricity grid, and the selected projects are expected to contribute to the BRIDGE initiative, which unites Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe smart grid, energy storage, islands, and digitalization projects.

To focus on the technologies with the greatest chances of success, the single tidal device to be used in the array deployment is expected to be satisfactorily demonstrated at full scale before, with limited changes to incorporate the learnings, according to the requirements listed for the call.

Any change on the tidal device may be incremental but should not involve fundamental changes to the device design or composition, the call states, adding that the innovation component should mainly lie on the pilot farm systems and supporting industrial manufacturing activities that enable a cost-effective and high-performance pilot farm.

Aside from the requirement for the minimum capacity of 4MW, the tidal energy farm must also be operated for at least two years in the lifetime of the project.

After the project, it is expected that the farm will continue to be operated for at least eight years.

The project proposals are expected to present a clear and convincing pathway to obtain necessary permits for the demonstration actions and allow for appropriate timelines to achieve these, and to demonstrate how they will get a financial close for the whole action.

According to Horizon Europe’s guidance documents, the use of other EU, national, or regional support mechanisms can be considered for this as well, upon which the independent experts will assess all deliverables and will advise for the go/no-go decision.

The funding opportunity has been opened on December 13, 2022, and the deadline for applications has been set on March 30, 2023.

Subscribe and follow

Offshore Energy – Marine Energy LinkedIn