Although winters are the best season for wind energy harvesting, icing is a major problem affecting the competiveness of this type of renewable energy. In Europe, about 94% of the windfarms have suffered icing events, which reduce turbine performance and causing even temporary shutdowns. Indeed, icing-induced power output losses in wind farms are found to reach over 20% of the annual production. There is not yet an efficient, cost-effective anti-icing or de-icing solution on the market: active solutions (thermal and mechanical systems) present low efficiency while passive technologies (typically coatings and paints) are not easily applied, and their durability and effectiveness are not well demonstrated. Nanowings will overcome the icing challenge by developing a disruptive transparent nanocoating (super-glue polymers and nanoparticles blended formulation) with outstanding anti-icing and anti-fouling properties that can be applied in-situ via an innovative, portable, and light module (mini-electrospinning and heating system) which can be mounted under a remotely controlled drone. 5 g/m2 of the nanomaterial coated over the surface of a fiberglass-reinforced polyester or epoxy wind turbine blade creates a nano-rough layer (0.5 µm thick) that reduces the wettability of the surface and imprint self-cleaning properties. By avoiding ice accretion, Nanowings reduces downtimes and increases the electricity production of the wind turbine. Nanowings is seizing a new concept of engineering and electrospinning of nanomaterials demonstrated at lab scale by partner LINARI. Moreover, the international consortium brings together top-notch academics (DTU) with seminal contributions in advanced nanomaterials and wind turbines performance under icing conditions; a well-recognized utility company (ENEL) as end-user and key testing partner (Valdihuelo Wind Farm - Spain), and an SME (EOLOGIX) with innovation in on-site wind turbines inspection based on avant-garde adhesive sensors.

The aim of the “Drilling in dEep, Super-CRitical AMBients of continentaL Europe: DESCRAMBLE" project is to develop novel drilling technologies for a proof-of-concept test of reaching deep geothermal resources and to contribute to a low-carbon European society. To achieve this target the first drilling in the world in an intra-continental site at a middle-crustal level will be performed. The test site is an existing dry well in Larderello, Italy, already drilled to a depth of 2.2 km and temperature of 350 °C, which will be further drilled to 3-3.5 km to reach super-critical conditions unexpectedly experienced, and not controlled, in a nearby well in 1979. The project will be organized into two main phases: (1) Drilling in super-critical conditions, including drilling components, well materials, design and control; (2) Geo-Scientific activities for predicting and controlling critical conditions, which considers petrological, physical and chemical characterization, simulation and monitoring, including high temperature and pressure tools. Main expected outcomes: • Improved drilling concepts in deep crustal conditions • New drilling materials, equipment and tools • Physical and chemical characterization of deep crustal fluids and rocks The site is perfect for such an experiment, as it is representative of most deep crustal levels in Europe, cost effective since drilling to reach the target is reduced to a minimum, practical due to the high probability of encountering super-critical conditions. The productivity and efficiency of the project are guaranteed by the combination of industrial and research participation and by the recognised expertise of the consortium in geothermal R&D as well as oil and gas drilling, bringing together excellence in the respective sectors. DESCRAMBLE will explore the possibility of reaching extremely high specific productivity per well, up to ten times the standard productivity, with a closed loop, zero emission, and reduced land occupation.

The objective of the project PECSYS is the demonstration of a system for the solar driven electrochemical hydrogen generation with an area >10 m². The efficiency of the system will be >6% and it will operate for six month showing a degradation below 100 cm²) and will be subject to extensive stability optimization. Especially, the use of innovative ALD based metal oxide sealing layers will be studied. The devices will have the great advantage compared to decoupled systems that they will have reduced Ohmic transport losses. Another advantage for application in sunny, hot regions will be that these devices have a positive temperature coefficient, because the improvements of the electrochemical processes overcompensate the reduced PV conversion efficiency. With these results, an in-depth socio-techno-economic model will be developed to predict the levelized cost of hydrogen production, which will be below 5€/Kg Hydrogen in locations with high solar irradiation, as preliminary back of the envelope calculations have revealed. Based on these findings, the most promising technologies will be scaled to module size. The final system will consist of several planar modules and will be placed in Jülich. No concentration or solar tracking will be necessary and therefore the investment costs will be low. It will have an active area >10 m² and will produce more than 10 Kg of hydrogen over six month period.

WENDY aims at unravelling the factors triggering social acceptance of wind farms through an in-depth analysis at three dimensions: social sciences and humanities, environmental sciences and technological engineering. For that, the project will implement a series of local actions promoting the wider adoption of the project solutions, including guidelines, reports and handbooks which will be created to boost the understanding of wind farms decision making processes and enhance energy citizenship. This will be supported by the spatial multi-criteria WENDY toolbox. A tool able to identify the optimal turbines’ siting with the minimum environmental impact and highest social acceptance likelihood. All developed models, methods, guidelines and tools will be implemented within 10 wind projects spread across 4 countries. These have been selected considering: geography (north vs. south Europe), maturity stage (viability phase / planning phase / short-term operation phase / long-term operation phase); type of wind energy (onshore / offshore – floating, fixed-); and co-existence with other activities (agriculture, fisheries, energy communities). In these locations, outreach activities tailored to their specificities will be performed, creating the WENDY Knowledge Hubs which will incorporate citizens, local authorities, business owners and value chain actors of wind energy. WENDY Hubs will serve as a baseline for the WENDY Knowledge Exchange Platform, a forum that will be developed to facilitate the exchange of knowledge between decision makers and key stakeholders within wind farms planning processes. For a successful implementation of the project activities, all the value chain and the best-in-class expertise is involved in the project consortium including 9 partners from 6 European countries: 1 Large Company (EGP), 2 SMEs (WR, Q-PLAN), 1 University (CBS), 2 RTO (CIRCE, NINA), 1 Energy Community (MEC), 2 Non-profit organisations and associations (NOWC, APPA).