RISEnergy opens first transnational access call for renewable energy research

RISEnergy’s first transnational access (TA) call for research infrastructure is now open, giving researchers in ocean energy, offshore wind, and hydrogen among other fields, opportunities to access Europe’s facilities and services focused on renewable energy technology. 

Funded by the EU, RISEnergy’s call aims to support technological advances and cost-reduction strategies to drive renewable energy adoption across Europe. 

The call prioritizes projects that cover at least two of RISEnergy’s primary research areas: ocean energy, offshore wind, and hydrogen, along with concentrated solar power, energy storage, information and communication technology, biomass, materials for energy, photovoltaics (PVs), and smart grids.

With a November 30, 2024 deadline, the TA call, part of RISEnergy’s €14.5 million initiative, provides researchers free access to research infrastructures and specialized services across Europe, VGA noted. 

Among the 15 facilities open to applicants is VGA’s SWEET Lab (Structural Wave Energy Equipment Test Lab), which focuses on ocean energy and was established under the IMPACT project.

The EU-funded IMPACT project introduced an “innovative approach” to testing wave energy converters (WECs) in June, using a dual hardware-in-the-loop (Dual HIL) platform that simultaneously tests multiple components for reliability, performance, and durability.

In March 2022, IMPACT’s partners submitted the final report for the work package which supported the design of test rigs for WECs by focusing on aspects of the electrical subsystems. The project was also supported by €3.3 million from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program.