SHARP-sCO2 aims to put the basis to develop a new generation of high efficient and flexible CSP plants. Keeping on working on CSP-sCO2 power cycles and exploiting air as operating fluids also developing novel enabling technologies (receiver, storage etc.), SHARP-sCO2 will attain high working temperatures, guaranteeing reliable and flexible operation, optimal working conditions and high efficiency for the coupling of CSP with sCO2 power cycle thanks to the development of high performant sCO2-air heat exchanger. Leveraging on a smart and integrated hybridization with PV, enabled by the development of an innovative electric heater, SHARP-sCO2 will maximize the production, exploiting PV affordability while counting on the unique energy storage capabilities of CSP plants via thermal media. The latter will be also optimized by developing an innovative high temperature thermal energy storage. SHARP-sCO2, by means of a material selection process driven by environmental and economic criteria and aimed at maximizing the circularity of the solution, will lead also to lower LCOE/CAPEX for future CSP. Developing and validating in EU top level laboratories (IME, KTH, TUD) key cycle components (receiver, storage, HEXs, electric heater) SHARP-sCO2 will prove the effectiveness and techno-economic viability of air-driven/sCO2 CSP cycles. Four prototypes will be investigated in a cross-fertilizing lab campaign (TRL5) also to validate partners’ modeling approach to robustly study cycle integration (via a ”cyber-physical approach”). Taking into account EU/extra-EU solar irradiation, electric market perspectives, environmental, safety/regulation aspects too, the project, which involves EU R&D leaders in CSP sector, will be the first keystone towards the promotion of air-driven/sCO2 cycles as key solution for EU CSP plants targeting 2030 EU targets. The project will assess the holistic impact of SHARP-sCO2 also proposing R&D roadmaps to TRL 9 and market uptake of project innovation.

Concentrating Solar Power is one of the most promising and sustainable renewable energy and is positioned to play a massive role in the future global generation mix, alongside wind, hydro and solar photovoltaic technologies. Although there is definitely perspective for the technology for rapid grow, success of CSP will ultimately rely on the ability to overcome obstacles that prevent its mass adoption, especially the large financial demand and limited accessibility of water. Water saving is therefore one of the major issues to ensure a financially competitive position of CSP plants and their sustainable implementation. To overcome such challenges, WASCOP brings together leading EU and Moroccan Institutions, Universities, and commercial SMEs and industry. They join their forces to develop a revolutionary innovation in water management of CSP plants - flexible integrated solution comprising different innovative technologies and optimized strategies for the cooling of the power-block and the cleaning of the solar field optical surfaces. WASCOP main advantage consists in the ability to reflect and adapt to the specific conditions prevailing at individual CSP plants, unlike other competitive approaches proposing a single generic solution applicable only on some referenced cases. The WASCOP holistic solution provides an effective combination of technologies allowing a significant reduction in water consumption (up to 70% - 90%) and a significant improvement in the water management of CSP plants. To demonstrate the benefits (whether economic or environmental), the developed system will be tested and validated in real conditions of four testing sites in France, Spain and Morocco after preliminary demonstration in laboratory environment.

Due to the growing demand of energy in the South-Mediterranean region, a shift towards renewable energies and notably solar energy is being promoted by the governments and the energy industry. One of the main obstacles for this development is the lack of qualified staff. The Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the region have launched training programmes in the field, but two main aspects still need to be addressed: improving a multidisciplinarity approach and links to businesses and applied research. Resources and international collaboration are needed in order to improve the quality of the training programmes and to ensure that they are linked to the latest research findings and requirements of the industry.In the larger context of modernisation, accessibility and internationalization of HEI systems in the Partner Countries, the MEDSOL project aims at enhancing the capacity of HEIs in Morocco and Egypt to deliver master-level programmes in solar energy. More specifically, it seeks to improve the quality of the currently existing training programmes, teaching methods and laboratory equipment for practice-based research. The work is conducted through close cooperation, sharing know-how and good practices between Programme and Partner Country HEIs as well as partners from business and applied research sectors. The proposed key activities are: 1. Improving existing curricula at the partnering HEIs in Morocco and Egypt; 2. Capacity building of HEI staff in Morocco and Egypt via a mobility scheme; 3. Updating training facilities at HEIs in Morocco and Egypt; 4. Providing opportunities for mobility for students in form of study/traineeship periods at the partnering institutions in the EU, Morocco and Egypt; 5. Disseminating project results and best practices in form of workshops and publications; 6. Promoting continued long-term collaboration, e.g. developing Double Master Degrees between the partners.

Batteries have been identified as an important technology to guide the clean-energy transition. Its presence in the automotive and energy storage industry is well-established and forecasts show its incoming market uptake. However, the current BMS of FLBs lack interoperability features, resulting in a time-consuming, expensive, and non-standardized reconfiguration process for SLB adaptation. These drawbacks complicate FLB repurposing for SLB applications, like ESS. The BIG LEAP project focuses on developing solutions for the SLBs BMS and its reconfiguration process. Technology breakthroughs will be made in its BMS, as a new three-layer architecture will be designed to ensure interoperability, safety, and reliability. It will be complemented with an adaptable ESS design to ensure BMS integration and expand the SLB's potential applications. Additionally, the BIG LEAP project intends to optimize the battery reconfiguration process by making it cost-effective, faster, and standardized. The methodology for the development of these innovations includes the collection of EV, maritime E-Vessel, and ESS batteries that will be dismantled and the data collected will serve as the basis for the BMS architecture development. It will contain adaptable SoX algorithms for accurate battery measurement, a DT for real-time monitoring, and a standardization roadmap. The new BMS will be integrated into the batteries, alongside the ESS and will be tested in three demo sites. Two physical demos will be in Paris and Prague, and a virtual demo will be in Morocco. They aim to validate the novel BMS and ESS, proving their optimization and interoperability. The BIG LEAP innovation includes a multidisciplinary consortium, a strong business case, and an Environmental Impact assessment. All with the intention of accelerating its market uptake with a cost-effective solution, positively impacting the European economy through the battery value chain and tracing its sustainable benefits.

HAVEN features a systematic, collaborative, and integrated approach to the design and demonstration of a cutting-edge, sustainable, and safe HESS capable of long duration storage and provision of multiple services for supporting the electrical grid and EV charging infrastructure by coupling complementary technology assets, namely, next-generation high-energy (HE) and high-power (HP) storage technologies, optimised power converter devices with innovative cognitive functionalities, advanced and cyber-secured energy management and control tools and strategies in a novel system architecture. HAVEN seeks to achieve a modular, scalable and cost-efficient solution with the capability to efficiently manage power and energy shares while optimising the system in terms of sizing, CAPEX/OPEX, aging stress and store degradation depending on the specific application. In addition, the project will go a step further by developing a flexible Digital Twin (DT) of the system, valid regardless of the cell chemistry and application and adaptable for second life battery modules, that enables to predict the performance and management of the system over its lifetime, while easing its design and predictive maintenance. All this, leveraged by the first-hand experience of leading academic and industrial players (7 companies). HAVEN’s smart solution will be validated and demonstrated up to TRL 7 in 3 physical and 2 virtual Use-Cases (UCs), covering a wide range of grid support services and considering the specificities of multiple electricity and balancing markets, both in Europe and beyond. To pave the path towards a fast market uptake after the project, the work will also include the development of business models and industrial exploitation strategies, cementing HAVEN’s position as a game-changer in the field of energy storage systems.