Horizon Europe: Energy Harvesting and Storage Technologies

Innovative technologies for efficient, low cost, sustainable, compact and flexible energy harvesting, conversion and storage are crucial to reach the Green Deal targets of decarbonised energy systems while achieving the transition to secure and affordable energy. EU-funded early-stage research on innovative energy technologies is uncovering unique opportunities for systems integration of advanced and sustainable energy harvesting and storage technologies.The proposals are expected to develop energy storage technologies or combined energy harvesting/storage technologies ready for investment and business development, with the perspective to capture specific systems integration opportunities.

Proposals are expected to address at least one of the following

• Innovative technologies and systems combining energy harvesting and storage, which are efficient, clean, high energy density and low-cost, integrated for stationary or mobile applications.
• Innovative concepts and techniques for the combined harvesting and storage of solar energy (in the form of heat or solar fuels), geothermal or waste heat, including topics such as long-term thermal storage, cooling and cryogenic storage, building integrated solutions, thermo-electricity, advanced heat transfer, power to heat to power, and thermo-mechanical energy storage and conversion.
• Advanced materials and devices for electro-chemical storage (other than Li-Ion batteries) at utility scale, mobile or distributed/micro scale level, also integrated to PV/wind energy systems or for the other intermittent sources. Concepts that offer the potential for high flexibility, high energy density, efficiency, low-cost, made of toxic-free and non-critical raw materials, should be harnessed to make them usable for specific applications.

Transition activities foreseen in this Transition Challenge will aim to have an impact on sustainability, using non critical and non-toxic raw materials and ensuring circular approaches and/or high degree of recyclability in the whole lifetime, and on financial and business level, preparing a detailed plan to exploitation supported by a sound business model and identifying any regulatory hurdles that need to be addressed.

Budgets of above EUR 2.5 million may be accepted if duly justified.