EN    EN EN 
 
EN    EN  COMMISSION OF THE E UROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 7.10.2009 
SEC(2009) 1295  
  
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 
Accompanying document to the 
  
COMMUNICATION FROM THE CO MMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMI TTEE OF THE REGIONS 
 
on Investing in the Development of Low Carbon Technologies  
(SET-Plan) 
 
A TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP  
   
{COM(2009) 519 final} 
{SEC(2009) 1296} {SEC(2009) 1297} {SEC(2009) 1298} 
 
EN 2   EN COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 
A TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP 
 
for the Communication on Investing in the Development of Low Carbon Technologies 
(SET-Plan) 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
1. Introduction................................................................................................................ .. 4 
2. Technology Roadmaps................................................................................................. 4 2.1. Concept and methodology............................................................................................ 4 2.2. Limitations ............................................................................................................... .... 5 
3. The SET-Plan Roadmap on Low Carbon Energy Technologies ................................. 6 4. Summary of Roadmaps................................................................................................ 8 4.1. Wind energy............................................................................................................... .. 8 
4.2. Solar energy .............................................................................................................. ... 9 
4.3. Electricity grid.......................................................................................................... .. 10 
4.4. Bioenergy ................................................................................................................. .. 10 
4.5. Carbon capture and storage........................................................................................ 11 4.6. Nuclear fission ........................................................................................................... 11 
4.7. Energy efficiency – Smart Cities Initiative................................................................ 12 4.8. Key milestones of the roadmaps ................................................................................ 12 4.9. European Energy Research Alliance (EERA)............................................................ 14 5. Synergies and Specific Issues .................................................................................... 14 6. Cross-Cutting Activities............................................................................................. 14 7. Next Steps .................................................................................................................. 15 
Technology Roadmaps............................................................................................................ . 16 
European Industrial Initi ative on Wind Energy ....................................................................... 16 
European Industrial Initi ative On Solar Energy ...................................................................... 21 
European Industrial Initi ative on Solar Energy - Photovoltaic Energy .................................. 21 
European Industrial Initia tive on Solar Energy – Concentrating Solar Power ...................... 25 
European Industrial Initiative on Bioenergy ........................................................................... 30 
 
EN 3   EN European Industrial Initiati ve on Carbon Capture and Storage ............................................. 35 
European Industrial Initiative on the Electricity Grid ............................................................. 39 
European Industrial Initiative on Sustainable Nuclear Energy ............................................... 43 
European Initiative on Smart Cities ......................................................................................... 48 
European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) .......................................................................... 53 
 
EN 4   EN 1. INTRODUCTION  
The achievement of the goals of the European  energy and climate change policy necessitates 
the development and deployment of a divers e portfolio of low car bon energy technologies. 
This is a key conclusion from  the Commission Communication An Energy Policy for 
Europe1. However, according to the 2nd Strategic European Energy Review2 the EU will 
continue to rely on conventiona l energy technologies unless there is a radical change in our 
attitude and investment prioriti es for the energy system. In response, the EU has endorsed the 
European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) as a vehicle to accelerate the 
development and large scale deployment of low carbon tec hnologies that draws upon the 
current R&D activities and achievements in Europe. It proposes a new innovation model 
based on a collective approach to research, development a nd demonstration planning and 
implementation with a focus on large scale progra mmes. The pertinence of this approach has 
already been recognised by the international community3. 
The implementation of the SET-Plan has started and is currently working towards the 
establishment of large s cale programmes such as th e European Industrial In itiatives (EIIs) that 
bring together industry, the re search community, the Member States and the Commission in 
risk-sharing, public-private pa rtnerships aiming at the rapi d development of key energy 
technologies at the European leve l. Six priority tec hnologies have already been identified as 
the focal points of the first EI Is: wind, solar, electricity grid s, bioenergy, carbon capture and 
storage and sustainable nuclear fission. A further initiative on en ergy efficiency in cities is 
currently being proposed, with the aim of stimulating the ta ke-up of low carbon technologies 
developed in the other EIIs or by other programme s. Other Initiatives may be proposed in the 
future. In parallel, the European Energy Resear ch Alliance (EERA), which brings together 
key European research organisations, has been  working since 2008 to align their individual 
R&D activities to the needs of the SET-Plan pr iorities and to establish a joint programming 
framework at the EU level. 
The purpose of this document is to present the costed technology roadmaps for the 
implementation of the six first European Industr ial Initiatives, the Initiative on Smart Cities 
and the EERA during the next 10 years. 
2. TECHNOLOGY ROADMAPS  
2.1. Concept and methodology 
The technology roadmaps serve as a basis for strategic plan ning and decision making. They 
have been drawn up by the Commission servi ces from the ongoing work to define the 
proposed European Industrial Init iatives. This has been a collect ive endeavour that started in 
2008 based on industry proposals, and has a dvanced through continuous discussions, 
workshops, multilateral meetings and expert co nsultations between the Commission services 
and the European energy technology platforms, th e relevant sector associations, the research 
community, Member States and other stakeholders . In this framework, the information system 
                                                 
1 COM(2007)1 
2 COM(2008)0781 
3 O. Edenhofer and N. Stern: Towards a global green recovery, Recommendations for immediate G20 
Action, G20 London Summit, 2009 
 
EN 5   EN of the SET-Plan (SETIS)4 has provided valuable data and analysis on the current state of the 
art of the individual technologies  and their anticipated technol ogical development and market 
potential through its Technol ogy Map; and on the ongoi ng private and public R&D 
investments in these technologi es through its Capacities Map. Significant steps have been 
taken to define measurable and suitably am bitious technological objectives and of the 
required research, development and demonstrati on activities for each EII. Consultations with 
the European Community Steer ing Group on strategic energy technologies have also been 
initiated via dedicated workshops to agree on the scope and content of each EII and the 
appropriate implementation methods. 
2.2. Limitations 
Although the EII roadmaps provide a master plan of the efforts needed over the next 10 years 
in the EU based on the best available info rmation, they do not constitute detailed 
implementation plans. The detailed planning will have to be jointly elaborated and agreed by 
the Member States, industry and the Commission, ahead of the launch of each EII. Further prioritisation of the actions proposed will be ne cessary in function of the available resources 
and the logic of intervention at different levels. 
In particular, the technology pe netration targets communicated as  the non-binding goals of the 
European Initiatives are proposed by the indust ry sectors, illustratin g the level of their 
ambition and vision. Hence, these should be di stinguished from the already adopted EC 
targets. They have not been thoroughly anal ysed by the Commission Se rvices and therefore 
their degree of feasibility and the likeliness of r eaching the indicated maximum penetration 
levels cannot be corroborated. The SET-Plan in formation system (SETIS) will review these 
targets as we progress towards the implementation of these Initiatives, and estimate their limits based on a robust scientific methodology and accounting for the SET-Plan objective of 
enabling an accelerated t echnological development. 
Similarly, the cost estimates of the Initiatives have been derived from consultation with the 
industry sectors and are based on  best available data.  The estimates include EU, national 
public funds and private investment.  They will be consolidated during the definition of the 
concrete implementation plans for each Initiative.  
Finally, although the presentation of the roadmaps has been harmonized as far as possible, in 
reality, each low carbon technology faces its own challenges, market dynamics, maturity and 
deployment horizon. Hence, in ea ch case, the activi ties are tailored to the specific innovation 
needs, reflecting also non-tec hnological barriers. Si milarly, the anticipated impact of the 
Initiatives varies both in volume, intensit y and timing. It is recommended to keep the 
technology specificities of the roadmaps when furthering their implementation as a European 
Industrial In itiative. 
The SET-Plan information system (SETIS) w ill provide a technology-neutral performance 
management framework to meaningfully moni tor progress towards the objectives of the 
Initiatives and the SET-Plan as a whole, ensu ring the cost-effectiveness of the allocation of 
public funding. 
                                                
 
4 http://setis.ec.europa.eu (to be released in October 2009) 
 
EN 6   EN 3. THE SET-P LAN ROADMAP ON LOW CARBON ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES  
Seven roadmaps are proposed, built around a visi on for the European energy system that by 
2020 will have already embarked on a transition to a low carbon economy. These roadmaps put forward concrete action plans aimed at raisi ng the maturity of the technologies to a level 
that will enable them to achieve large mark et shares during the period up to 2050. The main 
sectoral targets are: 
• Up to 20% of the EU electricity will be produced by wind energy technologies  by 2020. 
• Up to 15% of the EU elect ricity will be generated by solar energy  in 2020. However if the 
DESERTEC
5 vision is achieved, the cont ribution of solar energy will  be higher, especially 
in the longer term. 
• The electricity grid in Europe will be able to integrate up to 35% renewable electricity in a 
seamless way and operate along the "smart" pr inciple, effectively matching supply and 
demand by 2020. 
• At least 14% of the EU energy mix will be from cost-competitive, sustainable bio-energy  
by 2020. 
• Carbon capture and storage  technologies will become cost-competitive within a carbon-
pricing environment by 2020-2025. 
• While existing nuclear technologies will contin ue to provide around 30% of EU electricity 
in the next decades, the first Generation-IV nuclear reactor  prototypes will be in 
operation by 2020, allowing commercial deployment by 2040. 
• 25 to 30 European cities  will be at the forefront of the transition to a low carbon economy 
by 2020. 
It is noted that there is no directly quantifiable link between  research expenditures and the 
value of the results obtained from researc h. However, as a pre-requisite for any cost-
competitive deployment of technologies, each roadmap presents the technology objectives 
that are critical for making each low carbon te chnology fully cost-competitive, more efficient 
and proven at the right scale for market ro ll-out. For these technology areas, concrete 
research, development, demonstration and mark et replication activities, for which working 
together can make a difference in terms of maximizing the indus trial and societal returns, 
have been identified. These activities, to be implemented in the next 10 years, have been classified into three main categories: 
– R&D programmes  that include: 
– Basic and Applied research - This refers to both conceptual and more applied 
research carried out within research centres, universities, and (to a lesser 
degree) private sector institutions. 
                                                
 
5 The concept of DESERTEC initiative is a massive deployment of solar technology, mainly CSP, in 
MENA countries and the export of electricity to  Europe. (MENA = Middle East and North Africa) 
 
EN 7   EN – Pilot projects -  This consists mainly of initial small scale trials of new 
technologies and developments straight out of the research laboratory. The 
results of this type of effort are proof of technologic al feasibility and 
assessment of subsystem and component operability. 
– Test facilities  for materials, components, etc. 
– Demonstration programmes -  This constitutes the actual trial and large scale 
demonstration of technologies, and is partic ularly relevant to prove the full-scale 
viability of the technology. This includes measures for coordination, knowledge and information exchange, etc. 
– Market Replication measures - This represents the successf ul transfer of products 
from the demonstration stage into first markets, addressing the 'valley of death' 
phenomenon. 
In essence, the roadmaps call for an unprec edented European res earch, development and 
demonstration programme that comprises: 
– vigorous R&D programmes on  materials; component design, development and 
testing in pilot plants; en ergy resource mapping; and development of planning, 
optimization and energy management tools, to remove the bottlenecks to 
competitiveness and to facilitate the development for new generations of 
energy technologies 
– support research infrastructu res, that include testing facilities for technology 
components, manufacturing of nuclear fuels, etc. 
– comprehensive demonstration programmes that include dem onstrators for all 
technologies, to bridge the gap and accel erate the transfer of technologies from 
research to market deployment 
– market replication measures to demonstr ate the feasibility and gain experience 
on key concepts that will become the backbone of the future energy system, 
such as virtual power plants to acco mmodate variable power, large scale 
photovoltaic systems in cities, and other energy efficiency measures. 
This European research, development and de monstration programme on low carbon energy 
technologies has been estimated by the Comm ission together with the industry to cost 
between 58.5 to 71.5 billion euros over the next 10 years, divided between the EIIs and the 
Smart Cities Initiative as show n in Table 1. This should be shared between industry, the 
Member States and the European Commission. The partition of the cost for each EII may vary 
as well as for the activities within each E II. Typically, R&D programmes should have a 
prominent public and EU investment component, the demonstration programmes should have 
a strong industrial drive, accompanied by public support, both EU and national; and the market replication measures should have  a large participation from industry. 
 
EN 8   EN Table 1: Cost estimates of the proposed SET- Plan EIIs and the Smart Cities Initiative 
European Industrial Initiatives Total (b€) 
Wind Energy 6  
Solar Energy (PV & CSP) 16 
Bioenergy 9 
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) 10.5 - 16.5 
Electricity grid 2 
Sustainable Nuclear Energy 5 – 10 
Smart Cities 10 – 12 
Total 58.5 – 71.5 
It is noted that although the cost of the electric ity grid EII is significan tly lower than that of 
other EIIs, the issue of integr ating distributed energy sources in the transmission and the 
distribution power grid is addr essed in the Wind and Solar EIIs, where activities with their 
own budget have been planned. 
In 2007, the total R&D public and corporate i nvestments for wind, solar (PV and CSP), 
carbon capture and storage, biofuels, smart grids and nuclear fission amounted to €2.23 
billion in the EU6. €1.77 billion were devoted to non-nuc lear technologies and €0.46 billion to 
nuclear fission. 
4. SUMMARY OF ROADMAPS  
4.1. Wind energy 
This European Industrial Initiative aims to improve the competitiveness of wind energy 
technologies, to enable the exploitation of the offshore resources and deep waters potential, 
and to facilitate grid integrat ion of the wind power, to enable wind energy to take a 20% share 
of the final EU electricity consumption by 2020. 
Achieving these objectives, especially moving to deep offshore locations, presents a whole 
new range of challenges. More detailed res ource mapping and spatial planning tools will have 
to be developed. A new generation of large s cale, more efficient and more reliable wind 
turbines will have to be demonstrated under real operating conditions  for both offshore and 
onshore applications. Dedicated maritime technologies , e.g. structures, need to be rolled out to 
allow for exploitation of offshor e potential in deep waters. Ma nufacturing processes have to 
be further automated and optimised relying notably on industrial co operation with other 
sectors; and the whole logistics cycle from co mponent manufacture, transport and erection to 
wind farm operation and maintenance has to be  worked out and refi ned. In addition, an 
                                                 
6 SEC(2009)1296 
 
EN 9   EN overhaul of the electricity networks will have to be planned using new techniques and 
concepts to enable them to fully operate under high shares of va riable power supply. 
To this end, the EII proposes to develop a more accurate mapping of wind resources and 
capacity potentials in Europe including ho stile and complex environments, through 
coordinated measurement campaigns and the deve lopment of spatial planning tools; to build 
5-10 new testing facilities for ne w turbine systems; up to 10 de monstration projects of next 
generation turbines including a 10-20 MW protot ype; at least 4 prototypes of new offshore 
structures tested in different environments; demonstration of new ma nufacturing processes; 
and testing the viability of new logistics strate gies and erection technique s in remote and often 
hostile weather environments; and to demonstrat e at an industrial scale, grid integration 
techniques to manage wind farms as “virtual po wer plants”. All of this will be underpinned by 
a comprehensive research programme to cons tantly improve the technical and economic 
performance of wind turbines. The cost of su ch a European programme is estimated at €6 
billion over the next ten years. 
4.2. Solar energy 
The European Industrial Initiative on sola r energy focuses on phot ovoltaics (PV) and 
concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies. The objective of the PV component of the 
Initiative is to improve the competitiveness of the technology and to facilitate its large scale 
penetration in urban areas and green field locations, as well as its integration into the 
electricity grid. These measures should establis h PV as a competitive and sustainable energy 
technology contributing up to 12% of Europ ean electricity demand by 2020. For the CSP 
component, the objective is to demonstrat e the competitiveness and readiness for mass 
deployment of advanced CSP plants, through sca ling-up of the most promising technologies 
to pre-commercial or commercial level in or der to contribute to around 3% of European 
electricity supply by 2020 with  a potential of at least 10% by 2030 if the DESERTEC7 vision 
is achieved. 
Achieving this objective for photovoltaic energy requires a substantial reduction of costs, the 
improvement of device efficiencies, and at th e same time, the demonstration of innovative 
technological solutions for large scale deployment of PV and the integration of large scale PV 
generated electricity into the European gri d. The EII proposes an R&D programme focused 
on increasing performance and ex tending the life time of PV systems and components, and on 
key technologies for the interface with the power grid, such as inverter and storage devices; 
up to 5 pilot plants of advanced automated high throughput manufacturi ng processes for mass 
production; and a portfolio of demonstration pr ojects of PV power produc tion in decentralized 
applications and in urban communities, e.g. as bui lding integrated concepts and as centralised 
power plants of 50-100 MW. This will be unde rpinned by a long term R&D programme on 
advanced PV concepts and systems. 
Achieving large-scale, sustainable deployment of  advanced CSP plants with better technical 
and environmental performance and lower costs requires addressing the system efficiency, 
together with increasing power availability th rough better storage systems and hybridisation 
and reducing water consumption by developing ne w thermal cycles and dry cooling systems. 
The EII proposes an R&D and demonstration programme focused on the development of 
                                                 
7 The idea of DESERTEC is a massive deployment of solar technology, mainly CSP, in MENA countries 
and export of electricity to Europe. (MENA = Middle East and North Africa) 
 
EN 10   EN innovative components and cycles in all the areas mentioned above  and their demonstration at 
an industrial scale through the construction of at least 10 firs t-of-a-kind power plants. The 
cost of the solar EII programme is estimated at  16 B€ over the next ten years, of which €9 
billion are for the PV an d €7 billion for the CSP. 
4.3. Electricity grid 
The objective of the European Industrial Initiative on electricity grid is to enable the 
transmission and distribution of up to 35% of  electricity from disp ersed and concentrated 
renewable sources by 2020 and a completely decarbonised electricity production by 2050; to 
integrate further national networks into a ma rket-based truly pan-European network, to 
guarantee a high quality of  electricity supply to all customer s and to engage them as active 
participants in energy efficiency; and to anticipate new developments such as the electrification of transport. 
As a response, the EII proposes  a strongly integrated R&D a nd demonstration programme to 
identify and implement the most suitable grid architectures. The research part concentrates on 
the development of new technologies to improve fl exibility and security of the network and to 
mitigate future capital and operational expenditure, but also on developing the necessary modeling and planning tools for designing and testing i nnovative pan-European grid 
architectures. In parallel, up to 20 large-scal e demonstration projects  covering diversified 
geographical, social and climat e conditions are proposed to vali date solutions before their 
market roll-out, in all sectors from home energy efficiency through smart meters to the system 
integration of variable ener gy sources to the automation a nd control of whole networks. 
Cross-cutting activities are also included to  propose innovative market designs in keeping 
with the evolving European electricity system . The cost of the Electricity Grids EII is 
estimated at €2 billion over the next ten years excluding the costs of the generic as sets used in 
the demonstration, estimated in several billions eu ros, paid directly by the balance sheet of the 
network operators and of other participants. 
4.4. Bioenergy 
The European Industrial Initiative on Bioener gy addresses the technical  and economic barriers 
to the further development and accelerated comm ercial deployment of bioenergy technologies 
for widespread sustainable exploitation of biom ass resources, aiming to ensure at least 14% 
bioenergy in the EU energy mix by 2020, and at the same time to guarantee greenhouse gas 
(GHG) emission savings of 60% fo r bio-fuels and bio-liquids unde r the sustainability criteria 
of the new RES Directive. 
Bioenergy encompasses a chain of technolog ies from the production of biomass in a 
sustainable manner, meaning cultivation, harv esting, transportation, st orage and eventually 
pre-treatment before use in a conversion proc ess to produce the final energy, biofuel or 
chemical feedstock. While many technologies in use are quite mature, there is still 
considerable work to ensure that a minimum sustainability threshold is exceeded. Combined 
production of heat and electricit y (CHP) is moving to wide commercial exploitation in co-
firing systems with fossil fuels, particularly co al, while efficiency and scale of operation in 
purely biomass fired systems still needs some development before optimum efficiencies may be achieved. Production of biofuels from ligno-ce llulosic biomass is only at the pilot scale, 
although demonstration projects will be on lin e by 2010. Biorefineries are some way behind 
ligno-cellulosic biofuel production and are unlikely to be fully demonstrated by 2015. Cost of 
investment is steadily being reduced for all bi oenergy systems. Only approximate figures for 
 
EN 11   EN ligno-cellulosic biofuel production can be given in the absence of large-scale demonstration 
performance data. With the excep tion of biomass co-firing in fossil power plants and biogas 
production from agricultural residues, all other te chnologies still require considerable research 
and development. 
The EII proposes to carry out an ambitious de monstration programme of  different bio-energy 
pathways at a scale appropriate to the level of  their maturity – pilo t plants, pre-commercial 
demonstration or full industrial scale. Up to about 30 such plants will be built and operated 
across Europe to take full account of differing geographical  and climate conditions and 
logistical constraints. A longer term resear ch programme will support the bio-energy industry 
development beyond 2020. The cost of such a Eur opean programme is estimated at €9 billion 
over the next ten years. 
4.5. Carbon capture and storage 
The objective of the European I ndustrial Initiative on Carbon Capt ure and Storage (CCS) is to 
demonstrate the commercial viability of CCS  technologies in an economic environment 
driven by the emissions trading scheme, and in particular, to enable their cost competitive deployment in coal-fired power plants by 2020 or soon after; and to further develop them to 
allow for their subsequent wide-spread use in all carbon intensiv e industrial sectors. 
Today, most elements of the CCS ch ain of technologies (comprising CO
2 capture, transport 
and underground storage) are used commercially, al beit at a scale much smaller than that 
required for power generation or  by other carbon intensive i ndustries. Furthermore, the 
technology is expensive, its ut ilization reduces si gnificantly the overall efficiency of the 
power plant or the industrial process to which it is applied, and there are concerns over the 
long term safety of underground CO 2 storage. A prerequisite for the large scale deployment of 
CCS is the demonstration of th e technical and economic feasib ility of existing technologies. 
At the same time, a comprehensive research pr ogramme is needed to reduce costs, increase 
efficiencies across the whole CCS technology chai n, particularly in the capture process, and 
optimize the technology for use in all carbon intensive industrial sectors. 
In response to these cha llenges, a portfolio of different de monstration projects needs to be 
constructed within the next five  years, to test existing CCS t echnologies and their integration 
and demonstrate their long term operational av ailability and reliabili ty. The demonstration 
projects shall be networked at  EU level to increase the le vel of knowledge sharing and 
promote common activities. The research progra mme shall deliver more efficient and cost 
competitive CCS technologies based on improve d components, integrated systems and 
processes to make CCS commercia lly feasible by 2020. Preparations for the roll-out phase of 
CCS, including CO 2 transport and storage infras tructure will be started in parallel. The cost of 
the CCS Initiative will be of the order of €10.5 to  €16.5 billion over the next 10 years, 
depending on the actual number of  demonstration plants built. 
4.6. Nuclear fission 
The long-term sustainability of nuclear energy is  the main driver of the European Industrial 
Initiative on nuclear fission. In  particular, the EII is focused on a new generation of reactor – 
the so-called Generation-IV nuclear reactor. Such reactors will operate in  new ways that have 
the capability of exploiting the full energetic potential of uranium, thus greatly extending 
resource availability by factors of up to 100 over current technologies. They will maximise 
inherent safety and produce less radioactiv e waste. Some types – the high-temperature 
 
EN 12   EN reactors – will also have the ability to co-gen erate electricity and process heat for industrial 
purposes (oil, chemical and metal industry ne eds of process heat, synfuels and hydrogen 
production, seawater desalination, etc). 
Two reactor concepts are included in the EII: a prototype sodium cooled fast reactor coupled 
to the electricity grid and a demonstrator reacto r of an alternative fast neutron design, either 
lead or gas cooled, not coupled to the grid. The decision on whet her to favour the lead or gas 
cooled reactor as the alternative technology will be taken around 2012 on the basis of the 
conclusions of research programmes currently on -going. In addition, the initiative will design 
and construct pilot fuel fabrication workshops  to produce the fuel for both demonstration 
plants by the start of their operation in 2020, as well as all the necessary supporting research infrastructures for such a programme of adva nced reactor design and construction. Operation 
of the prototype and demonstrator reactors fr om 2020 will allow a return of experience that, 
coupled with further R&D, will enable commer cial deployment starting from 2040. At the 
same time, a coordinated programme of cross-cu tting research will be conducted in all aspects 
of nuclear reactor safety, performance, life time management, waste handling and radiation 
protection to serve both the development of future Generation IV reactors but also the 
continued safe and competitive operation of curre nt nuclear plants that  are providing 30% of 
EU electricity. The cost of the In itiative is estimated at €5-€10 billion over the next ten years. 
4.7. Energy efficiency – Smart Cities Initiative 
The Smart Cities Initiative aims to improve the energy efficiency and to deploy renewable 
energy in large cities beyond the levels envisaged for the EU energy and climate change policy. This Initiative will support cities and regions to take ambitious and pioneering measures to progress by 2020 towards a 40% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through 
sustainable use and production of energy. This  will require systemic approaches and 
organisational innovation, encompassing energy efficiency, low carbon technologies and the 
smart management of supply and demand. In pa rticular, measures on buildings, local energy 
networks and transport would be  the main components of the In itiative. It builds on existing 
EU and national policies and me asures and it draws upon th e other SET-Plan Industrial 
Initiatives in particular the solar and electric ity grid. It also relies on the European Economic 
Plan for Recovery, and public-private pa rtnerships on Buildings and Green Cars. 
In order to achieve the above measures, the Smart Cities Initiative proposes ambitious 
development, deployment and testing programme s for building, energy networks (heating and 
cooling, electricity) and transport applications to test and validate adva nced energy efficient 
and low carbon technologies and programme st rategies under real-life conditions. This 
includes the testing and assessment in the next  10 years of up to 200 zer o-energy buildings in 
different climatic zones, of di fferent strategies for the refurb ishment of existing buildings; the 
establishment of up to 10 development and depl oyment programmes for sm art grids in cities, 
the set up of development and testing programme s for the large deployment of low carbon 
transport systems and alternative fuel vehicl es. In parallel, demons tration programmes will 
focus on the large scale deployment of RES heati ng and cooling in cities  and their integration 
in energy efficient buildings. The cost of such  a European programme is estimated at €10-€12 
billion over the next ten years. 
4.8. Key milestones of the roadmaps 
The global roadmap that appears below shows th e key milestones of each EII, assuming that 
all activities start in 2010. More details are give n in the individual roadmaps. 
 
EN 13   EN 
 
 
 
EN 14   EN 4.9. European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) 
Achieving Europe's 2020 and 2050 targets on  greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy 
and energy efficiency will require the deployment of more efficient and advanced technologies. Research and development are e ssential to develop such new generations of 
energy technologies, to lower th eir costs and accelerate the tim e for market take-up. EERA is 
the EU response to a better organised and mo re efficient research based on European 
excellence. The objectives of the EERA are th erefore to accelerate th e development of new 
energy technologies in support of the SET-Plan by strengthe ning, expanding and optimising 
EU energy research capabilities through the shar ing of world-class na tional facilities in 
Europe and the joint realisation of pan-Europ ean R&D programmes. In particular a number of 
joint programming activities are proposed in the areas of wind, solar, CCS, biofuels, 
geothermal, materials for nuclear energy, etc. Th ese activities will be co mplemented with key 
partnerships with industry though the EIIs, universities and non-EU leading research 
institutes. The cost of the proposed activities is estimated to be 500 million euro per year. 
5. S
YNERGIES AND SPECIFIC ISSUES  
Due to the necessary combination of a range of energy technologies into the future energy 
mix, several technology roadmaps have prioriti sed integrating activities. An obvious case is 
the supply of inherently variab le energy sources such as sola r and wind into the electricity 
network, which is addressed in the EII on electricity grid as well as in the relevant technology-specific EIIs. Alt hough currently these activiti es have been formulated 
independently, discussions have started betw een the respective sectors to enhance their 
coordination, which may take the form of common actions. 
It is also noted that, most of the Initiatives focus on delivering cost e ffective technologies to 
contribute to the achievement of  the 2020 policy goals. However, it is apparent that the scope 
of their programme extends to 2050 as illustra ted by the consideration of long term research 
activities. In particular, the EII on nuclear  fission focuses on the development of a new 
generation of reactors for the post-2020 horiz on. Due consideration of these long-term 
specific issues needs to be ma de when progressing towards the implementation of the EIIs. 
6. C
ROSS -CUTTING ACTIVITIES  
All Initiatives have addressed a number of common cross-cutting i ssues that are essential for 
the successful development of technologies. These issues include publ ic acceptance, human 
resources and international cooperation. 
The transition to a low carbon economy will requi re the large scale deployment of new types 
of technology in the EU, which may not be fully known and understood by the public or are 
associated with controversial issues such as the location of energy ge neration facilities in 
general, the utilization of biomass resources, the safety of carbon storage underground, or the 
safe disposal of nuclear waste.  To this end, dedicated activ ities on public  acceptance are 
envisaged to address the concerns of the public with respect to the roll-out of specific low 
carbon technologies. 
The high penetration of low car bon technologies in the coming y ears requires a large pool of 
skilled personnel to secure the foreseen industrial growth. In  response to this challenge, a 
 
EN 15   EN large scale pan-European activity is being plan ned to create the necessary training schemes, 
filling the needs of the fu ture technology sectors. 
Low carbon technologies have been  recognised as a key element for fighting climate change 
at the global level, hence the coordination of international research and development is crucial. In this context, international cooperati on is a key priority of the SET-Plan, which has 
been transposed into the roadmaps. In particul ar, several EIIs envisa ge capacity building and 
joint research activities in developing economies, such as for building large scale CCS 
demonstration plants. Knowledge exchange on technology developments , technology transfer 
or sharing of costly equipment, with develope d or emerging economies, either bilaterally or 
through global institutions may also play a prominent role in many EIIs. 
7. N
EXT STEPS  
As already stressed in section 2.2, these ro admaps constitute the master-plan for the 
implementation of the SET-Plan in the next 10 years. The next step is to produce a detailed 
implementation plan for each EII, prior to thei r launch. In particular, activities need to be 
further defined and prioritized  according to their level of implementation; the timing of 
commitment of resources needs to be aligned to priorities and availability of funds; key 
performance indicators need to be further elabor ated and agreed; and concrete projects have to 
be identified for rapid implementation. 
 
EN 16   EN TECHNOLOGY ROADMAPS  
EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL INITIATIVE ON WIND ENERGY  
Strategic objective 
To improve the competitiveness of wind energy t echnologies, to enable the exploitation of the 
offshore resources and deep waters potential, an d to facilitate grid in tegration of wind power. 
Industrial sector objective 
To enable a 20% share of wind energy in the final EU electricity consumption by 2020. 
Technology objectives 
1. New turbines and components to lower investment, operation and maintenance 
costs:  
– To develop large scale turbines in th e range of 10 - 20 MW especially for 
offshore applications. 
– To improve the reliability of the wi nd turbine components through the use of 
new materials, advanced rotor design s, control and monitoring systems. 
– To further automate and optimise ma nufacturing processes such as blade 
manufacturing through cross industrial c ooperation with automotive, maritime 
and civil aerospace. 
– To develop innovative logistics including transport and erecti on techniques, in 
particular in remote, weather hostile sites. 
2. Offshore technology with a focus on  structures for large-scale turbines and deep 
waters (> 30 m).  
– To develop new stackable, replicable a nd standardised substructures for large-
scale offshore turbines such as: tripod s, quadropods, jackets and gravity-based 
structures. 
– To develop floating structures with platforms, floating tripods, or single 
anchored turbine. 
– To develop manufacturing processes and procedures for mass-production of 
substructures.  
3. Grid integration techniques for large-scale penetr ation of variable electricity 
supply. 
– To demonstrate the feasibility of bala ncing power systems with high share of 
wind power using large-scale storage systems and High Voltage Alternative 
Current (HVAC) or High Voltage Dir ect Current (HVDC) interconnections. 
 
EN 17   EN – To investigate wind farms manageme nt as “virtual power plants". 
4. Resource assessment and spatial planning  to support wind energy deployment. 
– To assess and map wind resources acr oss Europe and to reduce forecasting 
uncertainties of wind energy production. 
– To develop spatial planning methodologi es and tools taking into account 
environmental and social aspects. 
– To address and analyse social accept ance of wind energy projects including 
promotion of best practices. 
Actions 
1. New turbines and components to lower investment, operation and maintenance 
costs:  
– A R&D programme  focused on new turbine designs, materials and 
components addressing on- and offs hore applications coupled with a 
demonstration programme dedicated to th e development and testing of a large 
scale turbine prototype (10-20MW). 
– A network  of 5-10 European testing facilities  to test and assess efficiency and 
reliability of wind turbine systems. 
– An EU cross-industrial  cooperation and demonstration programme  
drawing upon the know-how from othe r industrial sectors (e.g. offshore 
exploration) for mass production of wind systems focused on increased 
component and system reliability, adva nced manufacturing techniques, and 
offshore turbines. A set of 5 – 10 demonstration projects testing the production of the next generation of turbines and components will be carried out. 
2. Offshore technology with a focus on  structures for large-scale turbines and deep 
waters (> 30 m).  
– A development and demonstration programme  for new structures distant 
from shore aiming at lower visual impact and at different water depths (>30m). At least 4 structure concepts should be developed and tested under different 
conditions. 
– A demonstration programme  on advanced mass-manufacturing processes of 
offshore structures. 
3. Grid integration techniques for large-scale penetr ation of variable electricity 
supply. A programme focused on wind farms management as “virtual power plants”
8 
to demonstrate at the industrial-scale : 
                                                 
8 A virtual power plant is a cluster of distributed ge neration installations which are collectively run by a 
central control entity in order to increase the system flexibility (including with the support of existing 
storage systems) and to make the best of available potential (spatial smoothing) 
 
EN 18   EN – Offshore wind farms interconnected to at  least two countri es and combined 
with the use of different grid  interconnection techniques. 
– Long distance High Voltage Direct Current. 
– Controllable multi-terminal offshore so lutions with multiple converters and 
cable suppliers. 
4. Resource assessment  and spatial planning to support wind energy deployment. A 
R&D programme for forecasting distribut ion of wind speeds and energy production 
that includes: 
– Wind measurement campaigns. 
– Database on wind data, environmental and other constrains. 
– Spatial planning tools and methodologies  for improved designs and production. 
Indicative costs (2010-2020) 
Technology objectives Costs (M€) 
1. New turbines and components 2 500 
2. Offshore structure-related technologies 1 200 
3. Grid integration 2 100 
4. Resource assessment and spatial planning 200 
Total 6 000 
This reflects the total sum of the re quired public and private investments. 
 
EN 19   EN Indicative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 
• Strategic Key Performance Indicator:  average wind energy el ectricity production cost 
reduced by 20% by 20209 
Activities Key Performance Indicators  
1. New turbines and 
components • Manufacturing costs of wi nd turbines and their 
components reduced by 20% by 2020 
• Transport and erection cost s of on- and offshore wind 
turbines reduced by 20% by 2020 
2. Offshore structure-
related technologies • Installation costs of offshor e wind turbines reduced by 
20% by 2020 
• Maintenance costs of offs hore wind turbines reduced 
by 20% by 2020  
3. Grid integration • Virtual capacity factor of wind farms reaching 80%10 
4. Resource assessment 
and spatial planning • Wind resources and conditions predicted with an 
uncertainty of less than 3% 
                                                 
9 Under the same assumptions as presented by Wind Energy –The Facts www.wind-energy-the-facts.org 
10 See footnote 8 
 
EN 20   EN Indicative Roadmap 
 
 
EN 21   EN EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL INITIATIVE ON SOLAR ENERGY  
EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL INITIATIVE ON SOLAR ENERGY - PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY  
Strategic objective 
To improve the competitiveness and ensure th e sustainability of the technology and to 
facilitate its large-scale penetration in urban ar eas and as free-field produ ction units, as well as 
its integration into the electricity grid. 
Industrial sector objective 
Establish photovoltaics (PV) as a clean, competitive and sustainable energy technology 
providing up to 12% of European electricity demand by 2020. 
Technology objectives 
1. PV Systems  to enhance the energy yield and reduce costs 
– To increase conversion effici ency, stability and lifetime. 
– To further develop and demonstrat e advanced, high-yield, high-throughput 
manufacturing processes, includi ng in-line monitoring and control 
– To develop advanced concepts a nd new generation of PV systems 
2. Integration of PV-generated electricity 
– To develop and validate innovative, econom ic and sustainable PV applications 
– To develop grid interfaces  and storage technologies capable of optimising the 
PV contribution to the EU electrical ener gy supply from installations urban and 
in green field environments 
Actions 
To meet these challenge s the Initiative proposes the following actions: 
1. PV Systems  to enhance the energy yield and reduce cost. 
– A collaborative technological development programme  focused on 
enhancing the performance and lifetime of PV systems impacts directly on the 
cost of the electricity generated. Advances  in this area need to be driven by 
better understanding of material behaviour  and the realisation of engineered 
devices with specific characteristics,  which have also potential to be 
reproduced in efficient fabrication pro cesses. Improved system architecture, 
balance of system components and operational control are needed to complement increases in cell efficiency and ensure higher overall energy output. The scalability of the results w ill be demonstrated on pilot production 
environments. 
 
EN 22   EN – A collaborative technological development programme  on manufacturing 
process development to address the tw in challenges of PV  device innovation 
and scalability to mass production. Advanced high-yield manufacturing 
processes for substrates, cells and modules, transparent conductive oxides, 
packaging and encapsulation have to be brought to commercial maturity. Advanced application technologies for active layers, roll-to-roll manufacturing on flexible substrates, high-temperature s ubstrates for ultra-thin polycrystalline 
silicon cells or high-throughput depositio n for other thin-film material systems 
have to be developed and demonstrated  in pilot production lines. Such trials 
should include a complete range of featur es so as to faci litate subsequent 
transfer to production. 
– A longer-term research  programme  aimed at supporting the development of 
the PV industry beyond 2020. Advanced concepts which need to be investigated and checked for feasibi lity include up/down converters, quantum 
and plasmonic effects to boost effici ency, device concepts for organic/ 
inorganic hybrids and multi-junction mate rials, and bulk-type intermediate 
band materials. 
2. Integration of PV-generated electricity 
– A technology development and demonstration programme for Building-
Integrated PV (BIPV). Aesthe tics and suitability are th e challenges that relate 
to both the appearance and functiona lity of the module and its support 
structure. Advanced BIPV modules need to be developed which are 
multifunctional, self-cleaning and serve as construction elements. To support 
the large-scale deployment in typi cal urban environments and small 
decentralised communities demonstration projects ("Solar Cities") will be promoted. 
– A technology development and demonstration programme on stand-alone 
and large ground-based PV systems, such as simplified module mounting 
structures, combined inverter and tr acker electronics, combined maximum 
power point and smart track ing control, low cost s upport structur es, cabling 
and electrical connections need to be accelerated. A portfolio  of demonstration 
projects for ground-based PV power plants on the scale of 50-100 MW each would deliver proof of concept in term s of feasibility, co sts and benefits. 
– A technology development and demonstration programme on connection to 
electricity networks and advanced power storage devices. It is very important 
to develop system components, including highly efficient inverters with new 
semiconductor materials (SiC, GaN), controllers and dedicated energy 
management tools (models, software and hardware). Introduction of new 
storage technologies in pilot units for larg e-scale field trials and assessment of 
their lifetime and cost will promote th e deployment of such systems and 
improve the dispatchability to the grid of the electricity generated. . The same 
applies for the development of active distribution systems, with improved 
functionality regarding voltage regu lation, power management and use of 
distributed energy storage. 
 
EN 23   EN Indicative costs (2010-2020) 
Technology objectives Costs (M€) 
1. PV systems 5 500 
2. Integration of PV-gen erated electricity 3 500 
Total 9 000 
This reflects the total sum of the re quired public and private investments. 
Indicative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 
Actions Key Performance Indicators (KPI) 
1. PV system • Reduced conventional turnkey PV system cost to 
<1.5€/Wp by 2020 
• Reduced concentrated PV system cost to <2€/Wp by 
2020 
• Increased PV (module) conversion efficiency to > 23 
% by 2020 
• Increased conversion efficiency  of concentrated PV to 
> 35% by 2020 
• Increased crystalline silic on and thin film modules 
lifetime to 40 years 
2. Integration of PV-
electricity generation • Increased inverter lifetime to >25 years by 2020 
• Battery storage cost < 0. 06 €/kWh and life > 25 years 
 
EN 24   EN Indicative Roadmap 
 
 
EN 25   EN EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL INITIATIVE ON SOLAR ENERGY – CONCENTRATING SOLAR POWER  
Strategic objective 
To demonstrate the competitiveness and readiness for mass deployment of advanced 
concentrating solar power (CSP) plants, through scaling-up of the most promising 
technologies to pre-commerci al or commercial level. 
Industrial sector objective 
To contribute around 3% of European electric ity supply by 2020 with a potential of at least 
10% by 2030 if the DESERTEC11 vision is achieved. 
Technology objectives 
Achieving large-scale, sustainable deploymen t of advanced CSP plants with better 
performance and lower costs requires addressi ng a series of techni cal issues, as well 
as carrying out a parallel series R&D and demo nstration activities designed to better 
exploit the inherent stre ngths of CSP technology. 
1. Reduction of generation, operation and maintenance costs 
– To improve the conversion efficiency at sy stem level as well as the reliability 
and efficiency of individual components. 
– To develop advanced plant monitoring and control technologies. 
2. Improvement of operational flexibility and energy dispatchability 
– To develop and improve thermal energy stor age, as well as hybridisation of the 
power plant with natural gas and poten tially with bio-mass renewable energy. 
3. Improvement in the environm ental and water-use footprint 
– To reduce the cooling water consum ption through innovative cycles, by 
developing dry cooling systems and optimising land use through new and 
innovative designs. 
– To demonstrate CSP-specific sustai nable water desalination processes. 
4. Advanced concepts & designs 
– To address advanced component s, concepts and systems. 
                                                 
11 The concept of DESERTEC is a massive deployment of solar technology, mainly CSP, in MENA 
countries and the export of electricity to Eu rope. (MENA = Middle East, and North Africa) 
 
EN 26   EN Actions 
1. Reduction of generation, operation and maintenance costs 
– A R&D & demonstration programme  to address individual components as 
well as the overall conversion efficiency and to reduce the investment cost of 
the installations, as well as the operation and maintenance costs. Some of the specific aspects may need to be addre ssed on a small-to-medium scale before 
moving to demonstration in full-scale power plants. 
1.1 Development and test of new components with increased efficiency and 
reliability (high temperature joints, new collector designs, improved absorber tubes, new reflector so lutions, improve pumps and valves, 
improved the power block and instrumentation); 
1.2 Decrease the heat losses in the receiver; 
1.3 Reduction of optical losses by increa sed mirror reflectivity and receiver 
absorption; 
1.4 More efficient cycles and receivers: 
– high efficiency air receivers 
– high pressure, high efficiency steam receivers 
1.5 Operation with heat transfer fluids at higher temperatures. 
1.6 Development and testing of new, mo re economic components i.e. high 
temperature joints, absorber tubes, new reflector solutions and collector design, pumps and power blocks, as well as heat transfer fluids; 
1.7 Identification, development and assessm ent of alternative heat transfer 
fluids with lower costs, low enviro nmental impact and a wide operation 
range; 
1.8 Optimise and improve the monitoring and communication technologies 
for the control, operation and maintenance of CSP power plants, as well as developing operation strategies and prediction tools to better facilitate 
grid integration. 
2. Improvement of operational flexibility and energy dispatchability 
– A R&D and demonstration programme  addressing thermal energy storage 
and CSP plant hybridization with other en ergy sources in or der to increase the 
ability to deliver electricity at any give n time. Some of the aspects may need to 
be addressed on a small-to-medium scale before moving to full-scale demonstration on plants. 
2.1 New and improved concepts and materi als for heat energy storage and 
heat transfer systems will be developed and tested (transfer fluids, filler 
 
EN 27   EN materials, change of phase systems, molten salts, ultra capacitors etc.) 
and implemented in large-scale demonstration plants; 
2.2 New process design and operating modes; 
2.3 Hybridisation of solar energy with  other renewable energy sources 
(mostly biomass); 
2.4 Development of control systems for monitoring the consumption curves. 
3. Improve the environmental footprint 
– A R&D and demonstration programme  addressing water cooling needs, dry 
cooling, water desalination and purifi cation as well as the efficient and 
innovative use of land. 
3.1 New approaches to reduce water consumption, e.g. through innovative 
use of an organic Rankine cycle (O RC) coupled with conventional steam 
cycle; 
3.2 Develop and demonstrate dry cooling systems; 
3.3 Develop and demonstrate CSP-speci fic sustainable water desalination 
and purification processes; 
3.4 Integration of low- polluting materials; 
3.5 Better utilisation of available land through new design strategies; 
4. Advanced concepts & designs 
– A longer-term R&D programme  aimed at supporting the longer-term CSP 
industry development (beyond 2020) will focus on advanced concepts and systems, as well as innovative approach es to the critical major components. 
Indicative costs (2010-2020) 
Technology Objectives  Costs (M€) 
1. Increase efficiency & Reduce generation costs 4 400 
2. Increase dispatchability 1 700 
3. Improve the environmental footprint 800 
4. Longer term R&D  100 
Total 7 000 
This reflects the total sum of the re quired public and private investments. 
 
EN 28   EN Indicative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 
Activity Key Performance Indicators  
1. Increase efficiency & Reduce cost • Increased solar to electricity conversion 
efficiency by at least 20% (relative) 
• Reduce cost of installed products and 
O&M by at least 20% compared with state of the art in commercial plants in 2009  
2. Increase dispatchability • Increased performance of storage and 
hybridisation by at least 20% 
3. Improve the environmental profile • Substantial reduction of water 
consumption with only minor loss of 
performance 
• Substantial reduction in  land use per MW 
installed 
 
EN 29   EN Indicative Roadmap 
 
 
EN 30   EN EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL INITIATIVE ON BIOENERGY  
Strategic objective 
To address the technical-economic barriers to the further development and accelerated 
commercial deployment of bioenergy conversi on technologies for widespread sustainable 
exploitation of biomass resources. 
Industrial sector objective 
To ensure at least 14% bioenergy in the EU  energy mix by 2020, and at the same time to 
guarantee GHG emission savings of 60% for bio-fu els and bio-liquids under the sustainability 
criteria of the new RES directive. 
Technology objectives 
1. Bring to commercial maturity the curren tly most promising technologies and 
value-chains  through the development and optim isation of feedstock-flexible 
thermochemical pathways and biochemical  pathways, in order to promote large-
scale12, sustainable production of advanced biofuels and highly efficient heat & 
power from biomass. This will require scaling up and optimization of process 
integration, with focus on the improvement  of feedstock flexibility, energy and 
carbon efficiency, capex efficiency, relia bility and maintenance of plants. 
2. Contribute to a set of activities in the field of biomass feedstock availability  
assessment, production, management and harvesting  in support of the up-scaling 
of promising technologies. Biomass availa bility, production and harvesting are not 
specific to the bioenergy use of biomass and are to be addressed in  a coherent effort 
shared with relevant stak eholders and initiatives13. 
3. Develop a longer term R&D programme  to support the Bioenergy industry 
development beyond 2020. 
Actions 
1. Optimisation of the most promising value chains within thermo-chemical 
(characterised by the use of high temper ature transformations) and biochemical 
(characterised by the use of biological and chemical processes) pathways. As within 
the current R&D efforts in Europe, se veral technology options have shown 
promising performances at pilot scale, th is calls for a collaborative programme of 
demonstration and first-of-this-kind industr ial-size plants depending on the level of 
maturity of each specific value chain, s upported by targeted RTD actions. If pilot 
plants  aim at establishing technical pe rformance, demonstration plants  (D) are the 
last non-economic step to demonstrate the performance and reliabi lity of all critical 
steps in a value chain. First-of -this-kind industrial-size plants  (F) are then the first 
commercial unit operating at an economically viable scale. 
                                                 
12 Large single production units or large number of smaller units 
13 Local and national authorities, farming associations, European Technology Platforms such as Plants for 
the Future and Forestry 
 
EN 31   EN Within the thermo-chemical pathways , the five generic valu e chains listed below 
will be optimised for the production of gas,  liquids, heat and power from a large 
variety of lignocellulosic material. Activ ities will include the optimised use of 
advanced catalysts and the improvement of gas cleaning technologies and quality/stability of bioliquids. 
A: Production of synthesis gas (syngas) as an intermediary to create liquid 
fuels (e.g. gasoline, naphtha, kerosene  or diesel fuel) and chemicals (1-
2D and 2-3 F plants) 
B: Production of bio-methane and ot her bio-synthetics gaseous fuels 
through gasification (1-2D and 2-3 F plants) 
C: Optimisation of syngas combustion to  produce heat and electrical power 
(2-3 F plants). 
D: Optimisation of the production of bi oenergy carriers such as bio-oil and 
solid intemediates (2-3 F plants). 
E: Co-processing of biomass and bio-ener gy carriers with petroleum oil (2-3 
F plants). 
Within the biochemical pathways , the following three value chains will be 
optimised for the production of gas and liquids from biomass, including the 
optimisation of feedstock pre-treatm ent and downstream processing and the 
optimised use of advanced enzymes, en suring the optimum pr oduction of valuable 
co-products where possible: 
A: Production of ethanol and higher al cohols from ligno-cel lulosic feedstock 
(agricultural and forest biomass – ei ther residues or de dicated crops- and 
urban municipal solid waste) with simultaneous production of valuable co-products (1-2D and 2-3F plants working with different types of 
biomass). 
B: Synthesis of hydrocarbons (e.g. dies el and jet fuel) through biological 
and/or chemical process from bi omass containing car bohydrates. (2-3D 
and 1-2F plants preceded by so me RTD activities and pilots) 
C: The micro-organism (algae, bact eria)-based production of bioenergy 
carriers (e.g. bio-oils) from CO
2 and sunlight, and further upgrading into 
transportation fuels (e.g. biodiesel and aviation fuels) and valuable by-
products (2-3D and 1-2 F). 
2. The pre-requisite for the implementation of the above mentioned programme of 
demonstration and first-of-this-kind industrial-size plants will be an assessment of the biomass availability, and the devel opment/optimisation of technologies and 
logistics for sustainable feedstock producti on, management and harvesting. A set of 
activities will therefore be implemented t ogether with concerned stakeholders to 
assess sustainable biomass availability  in Europe, to develop improved crops 
(including aquatic crops) suitable for the pr oduction of biofuels or chemicals, to 
develop better harvesting technologies, to  improve forest management techniques or 
the fuel extraction from waste. 
 
EN 32   EN 3. A longer-term R&D programme to support the bioenergy industry development 
beyond 2020. This involves the construction of a couple of pilot plants followed by a 
couple of demonstration plants, possibly around 2018. This action will focus on the 
identification and development of new valu e chains able to further improve the 
performance of the concerned processes and/ or to permit the exploitation of new raw 
materials under sust ainable conditions.  
All the actions and relative indicative costs are summarised in the tables that follow. 
Summary of actions  
Technology pathways /  
Generic value-chains and support 
activities Maturity 
in Europe Estimated 
N° of 
plants14 Potential specific value-chains  
1. Optimisation of the most promising value chains  
Thermochemical pathways   2-4D, 10-
15F  
A: Liquid fuels (e.g. gasoline, naphtha, 
kerosene or diesel fuel) and chemicals 
through gasification. Pilot & 
demo 1-2D, 2-3F  
B: Bio-methane and other bio-synthesitic 
gaseous fuels through gasification. Pilot 1-2D, 2-3 F 
C: Heat and electrical power through 
gasification. Demo 2-3 F 
D: Intermediate bioenergy carriers through 
techniques such as pyrolysis and 
torrefaction. Pilot & 
demo 2-3 F 
E: Co-processing biomass and/or bio-
energy carriers with petroleum oil. Demo  2-3 F Example of potential specific value chains for 
the thermochemical pathways are: 
• Bio-dimethyether (DME) and methanol 
from black liquor 
• Fisher-Tropsch diesel and naphtha from 
waste wood, forest residues, short rotation crops, straw forest residues, stumps, bark 
• Bio-methane from dry lignocellulosic 
biomass 
• Bio-oil for light/heavy oil applications 
from forest residue 
Biochemical pathways   5-8D, 4-7 F  
A: Ethanol, higher alcohols and valuable 
co-products from ligno-cellulosic 
feedstock through chemical and biological 
processes.  Pilot & 
demo 1-2D, 2-3 F 
 
B: Hydrocarbons (e.g. diesel and jet fuel) 
through biological and/or chemical 
Synthesis from biomass containing 
carbohydrates. Lab 2-3D, 1-2 F 
C: Transportation fuels (e.g. biodiesel and 
aviation fuels) and valuable by-products 
from bioenergy carriers produced by 
micro-organisms (algae, bacteria). Pilot 2-3D, 1-2 F Example of potential specific value chain for 
the biochemical pathways are: 
• Ethanol from dedicated feedstocks, 
agricultural bio-products, wood wastes 
• Ethanol, animal feed and fertiliser from 
food industry waste and side streams 
• Ethanol, C5 molasses, lignin pellets from 
wheat straw  
• Biodiesel from algae 
                                                 
14 P= Pilot, D= Demo, F=First-of-this-kind industrial-size plant 
 
EN 33   EN Technology pathways /  
Generic value-chains and support 
activities Maturity 
in Europe Estimated 
N° of 
plants14 Potential specific value-chains  
2-3.Supporting and co mplementary activities  Types of activities  
2: Contribution to activities on biomass 
feedstock assessment, production, 
management and harvesting for energy 
purposes  2-3 P, 1D Studies on biom ass availability assessment, 
R&D on improved and new crops (including 
aquatic crops) and pilots/demonstration on 
optimised technologies and logistics for 
sustainable feedstock production, management 
and harvesting. 
3: Identification of new value chains via 
longer term RTD programmes   1-2P, 1-2 D Various R&D, pilot and demonstration 
activities 
Indicative costs (2010-2020) 
Technology Objectives  Costs (M€) 
1. Optimisation of the most promising value chains via:  
a. Thermochemical pathways from lingo-cellulosic 
feedstock 4 500 
b. Biochemical pathways 3 400 
2. Support activities on biomass fe edstock assessment, production, 
management and harvesting for energy purposes 600 
3. Identification of new value chains via longer term RTD 
programmes 400 
Total 9 000 
This reflects the total sum of the re quired public and private investments. 
Indicative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 
For electricity generation 
– Investment cost < 1500 €/kWe by 2015-2020 
– Electricity production co st < 0.05 €/kWh by 2015-2020 
For Biofuels production 
– Biofuel production cost < 0.6 € /litre gasoline equivalent15 (2008 equivalent) 
– Capital investment and operation costs in li ne with fossil industry refinery costs 
                                                 
15 IEA, 2008, from 1st to 2nd generation Biofuel technologies, assuming 1€ = 1USD 
 
EN 34   EN Indicative Roadmap16 
 
                                                 
16 
  Commercial plant possible – D: demo; F: Fi rst of this kind industrial size plant  
 
EN 35   EN EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL INITIATIVE ON CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE  
Strategic objective 
To demonstrate the commercial viability of car bon capture and storage (CCS) technologies in 
an economic environment driven by the emissions trading scheme. In particular, to enable the 
cost competitive deployment of CCS technolog ies in coal-fired power plants by 2020-2025 
and to further develop the technologies to allo w for their subsequent wide-spread use in all 
carbon intensive industrial sectors. 
Industrial sector objective 
To enable European fossil fuel power  plants to have near to zero CO 2 emissions by 2020. 
Technology objectives 
1. Proving the technical and economic feasib ility of CCS using existing technology 
– To test the most promising CO 2 capture, transport and storage technologies at 
large scale in a fully integrated chain (called CCS chain hereafter) and optimise 
their operational performance, for demons trating the technical feasibility and 
safety of the CCS concept. 
– To reduce the costs of CO 2 capture (currently estimated to be around 60-90 € 
per tonne of CO 2 abated) and therefore to lower the cost of electricity produced 
by CCS-equipped power plants through le arning effects, thus making CCS 
technology cost competitive in the European power generation system. 
2. Developing more efficient and cost competitive CCS technologies 
– To further improve the efficiency of c onventional (non-CCS) power plants that 
will enable the utilisation of CO 2 capture technologies at a minimum overall 
efficiency penalty. 
– To develop new capture concepts that will  pave the way for next generations of 
CO 2 capture technologies, marked by improved performance (i.e. lower 
efficiency penalty and cost of capture),  which will result in further reductions 
of electricity costs to levels comparable to or lower than those associated with 
other future low-carbon technologies. 
– To further optimise capture technologi es for expanding their use to other 
carbon-intensive sectors such as the cemen t, refineries and the iron and steel 
industries. 
– To develop alternative technologies for CO 2 transport and storage that will 
enable the geographically broade r deployment of CCS technologies. 
 
EN 36   EN Actions 
1. Proving the technical and economic feasib ility of CCS using existing technology 
– Realisation of a large scale demonstrat ion programme for the construction and 
operation of a fleet of up to 12 large-sc ale first-of-a-kind power plants that 
capture, transport and store the majority of the CO 2 generated during their 
operation. The aim of the demonstration programme will be to test CCS technologies and their integr ation on a large scale a nd demonstrate their long 
term operational availability and reliab ility. The operation of the plants will 
commence by 2015 in the power  sector to allow a su fficient track record by 
2020 and provide the necessary  learning for the next ge neration of CCS plants 
to come on stream in power generati on and industrial s ectors soon after 2020. 
The early demonstration programme will en sure that the first CCS projects will 
not focus only on the simplest technologi cal solutions but collectively develop 
a coherent portfolio that will demons trate CCS chains comprising different 
capture (post-combustion, pre-combus tion, oxyfuel) and storage (on- and 
offshore saline aquifers and hydrocarbon fields) options usin g different fossil 
fuel types. 
– Establishment of a network of CCS pr ojects representing the portfolio of 
demonstration plants, aiming at a st ructured and coordinated knowledge 
sharing and the development of joint ac tivities concerning public acceptance, 
international cooperation, identification of future R&D priorities, etc. The 
network will facilitate the identificati on of best practises through information 
sharing; achieve cost sa vings for projects by undert aking joint activities in 
areas where synergies can be  best developed and expl oited, and leverage the 
projects for increasing public acceptance of CCS by using them as evidence of 
the safety of geological storage of CO
2. 
2. Developing more efficient and co st competitive CCS technologies 
– Establishment of an R&D programme that will address: 
– Fossil fuel conversion technologie s aimed at improving power plant 
efficiency in all main fossil fuel power generation routes to better compensate for the efficiency penalty imposed by CO
2 capture. 
– Capture technologies aimed at improved efficiency and cost-
effectiveness and their better integration in power generation. This 
includes research on new components and technologies, such as solvents 
and membranes. New technology options, whenever mature, will be first tested through pilot plants. Such testing will ultimately contribute to the optimisation of processes in large plants. 
– Transport and storage concepts ai med at identifying and quantifying 
storage capacities in Europe; as well as injection and monitoring technologies to track CO
2 in underground reservoirs and to detect leaks. 
Research in CO 2 transport includes improved materials for pipelines and 
terminal storage installations as well as development and testing of ship transport concepts. 
 
EN 37   EN – Use of CCS technologies in other industrial sectors focusing on the 
research for the application of capt ure technologies to carbon-intensive 
industrial sectors su ch as cement, steel, refineries, etc. 
Indicative costs (2010-2020) 
Technology Objectives Costs (M€) 
1. Proving existing technology (additiona l costs for CCS only) 8 500 - 13 000  
2. Developing more efficient and cost competitive CCS 
technologies 2 000 - 3 500 
Total 10 500 - 16 500 
This reflects the total sum of the re quired public and private investments. 
Indicative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 
• Strategic Key Performance Indi cator: Cost of CCS technology (including capture, transport 
and storage) in power pl ants reduced by 30-40% by 2020 
Specific KPIs – Average annual load factor of at least 80% in CCS power plants by 2020 
– Average annual CO
2 capture rate of at least 90%  in CCS power plants by 2020 
– Net efficiency of coal fired power plants equipped with CCS (pulverised coal with 
post-combustion capture, IGCC with pre-co mbustion capture, or oxyfuel) higher than 
40% by 2020. 
– Net efficiency of conventional coal fi red power plants higher than 50% by 2020. 
– Publication of an accurate atlas of CO 2 storage sites in Europe and an outline of the 
European transport infrastructure by 2020 
– First commercial deployment of CCS tec hnologies to energy intensive industrial 
applications by 2025. 
 
EN 38   EN Indicative Roadmap 
 
 
EN 39   EN EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL INITIATIVE ON THE ELECTRICITY GRID 
Strategic objective 
To transmit and distribute up to 35% of electricity fr om dispersed and concentrated renewable 
sources by 2020 and a completely decarbonised electricity production by 2050; to integrate 
national networks into a market-based trul y pan-European network, to guarantee a high 
quality of electricity supply to all customers a nd to engage them as active participants in 
energy efficiency; and to anticipate new developmen ts such as the electrification of transport. 
Industrial sector objective 
To substantially reduce capital and operational expenditure for the opera tion of the networks 
while fulfilling the objectives of a high-quali ty, low-carbon, pan-European, market based 
electricity system. 
Technology objectives 
1. Developing and validating advanced network technologies to improve flexibility 
and security  of the network, and to  mitigate future capital and operational 
expenditure . These include new high-power equipm ent, integration of electricity 
storage and monitoring and control systems. 
2. Preparing the long-term evolution of  electricity grids  to ensure the proper 
investments are made in the coming years to  address the requireme nts of the future 
portfolio of electricity generation and consumption. 
3. Engaging the active participation of customers in energy markets and energy 
efficiency through better information about their consumption, incentives such as 
dynamic pricing mechanisms and appropriate ICT tools. 
4. Elaborating and testing innovative market designs  to ensure a proper functioning of 
the internal market for electricity both at European and local scale. 
Structured interactions will be setup with the other industrial initiatives, particularly on wind 
and solar energy and with the public-private partnerships on green cars and on efficient 
buildings, to ensure a coordinated developmen t of the appropriate technologies, and where 
appropriate, to organise join t demonstration activities. 
Actions 
A balanced research and demonstration programme  led by Transmission and Distribution 
System Operators (TSO's and DSO' s) is required that includes in the demonstration part of the 
programme a set of 20 large scale projects, covering diversified geographical, social and 
climate conditions, involving a total of at leas t 1.5 million customers. A ll the actions will be 
fully in line with the 3rd Internal Energy Market package. 
1. Network technologies 
– R&D & demonstration activities to validate state-of-the-art power 
technologies for transmitting and contro lling the flow of large amounts of 
 
EN 40   EN power over long distances and from offshore sources and to develop new 
monitoring and control systems to ensure  the integration of  large numbers of 
variable renewable energy sources while providing the expected power quality 
and voltage, and to operate pan-European  networks in normal and critical 
conditions. These solutions will also cons ider the integration of electricity 
storage and facilitate the introduction of  large numbers of electric vehicles. 
– Demonstration activities on solutions for automating distribution network 
control and operation, including self-heali ng capabilities. These will increase 
power quality and reduce operational expenditure 
2. Long-term evolution of electricity networks 
– R&D activities  to develop modelling and plan ning tools for the long-term 
evolution of the grid, and valida ting innovative pan-European grid 
architectures, needed to increase the capacity to transport large quantities of 
renewable energy from all sources and to  develop methods and tools for asset 
management, for preventive maintenance and for optimising the assets' life cycle.  
3. Active customers 
– Demonstration activities on different solutions to activate demand response 
for energy saving, for the reduction of peak consumption and for balancing 
variable renewable electricity generati on using visualisation of consumption 
for consumers, dynamic time of use tariffs and home automation technologies (up to 500000 customer points) and on solutions for smart metering 
infrastructure to unlock the potential of smart meters as the key to provide detailed information to customers, and to provide benefits to retailers and 
network operators, identifying regulatory, technical and economic 
opportunities. 
4. Innovative market designs 
– R&D activities on cross-cutting issues to proposing market designs that 
provide incentives for all actors to c ontribute to the overall efficiency, cost-
effectiveness and carbon f ootprint of the electricity supply system to provide 
inputs to updates of regula tory frameworks to ensure their following the policy 
and technology developments. 
 
EN 41   EN Indicative costs (2010-2020)17 
Technology Objectives Total (M€) 
1. Network technologies 1 200 
2. Long-term evolution 100 
3. Active customers 600 
4. Innovative market designs 100 
Total 2 000 
This reflects the total sum of the re quired public and private investments. 
Indicative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 
– Number of customers involved (at least 1.5 million). 
– Greatly increased capacity to host RES el ectricity from central and distributed 
sources, (to at least 35% of electricity consumption) incl uding readiness for massive 
off-shore wind integration. 
– Increased overall quality of electricity supply (by a 2-10% reduction of energy not 
supplied). 
– Reduced peak to average load ratio (by 5-10%) and thus reduced need for 
investments. 
– Full integration of customers in market mechanisms promoting energy efficiency and 
active demand practices. 
                                                 
17 These costs exclude the costs of the generic assets  used in the demonstration, estimated in several 
billions euros, paid directly by the balance sheet of  the network operators and of other participants. 
 
EN 42   EN Indicative Roadmap 
 
 
EN 43   EN EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL INITIATIVE ON SUSTAINABLE NUCLEAR ENERGY  
Strategic objective 
A vast increase in the sustainability of nuc lear energy through demons trating the technical, 
industrial and economic vi ability of Generation -IV fast neutron reac tors (FNRs), thereby 
ensuring that nuclear energy can remain a l ong-term contributor to the low carbon economy 
and building on the safety, reliability a nd competitiveness of current reactors. 
Industrial sector objective 
To enable the commercial deployment of Generation-IV FNRs from 2040, while in the 
meantime maintaining at least a 30% share of EU  electricity from currently available reactors 
with an expansion towards the cogeneration of process heat for industrial applications when 
such markets develop. 
Technology objectives 
1. Through the design, construction and operation of a prototype sodium fast reactor 
(SFR), considered as the reference FNR technology, and a demonstrator reactor of 
alternative technology (either gas or lead cooled fast reactor – GFR or LFR), 
demonstrate that FNRs: 
– are able to exploit the fu ll energy potential of uran ium by extracting up to 100 
times more energy than cu rrent technology from the same quantity of uranium; 
– have the ability to "burn" (i.e. eradi cate though nuclear transmutation in the 
reactor) the "minor actinides" produced in the fuel during reactor operation by 
recycling these minor actinides in fres h fuel, and in so doing significantly 
reduce quantities, heat production and (by fact ors of up to 1000) hazardous 
lifetime of the ultimate waste for disposal; 
– attain safety levels at least equivalent  to the highest levels attainable with 
Generation II and III reactors; 
– eliminate proliferation risks by avoidi ng separation of weapon's grade fissile 
material at any point during the fuel cycle; 
– can attain levelised electricity and h eat production costs on a par with other 
low carbon energy systems. 
2. The refurbishment and/or design, constr uction and operation of infrastructures 
needed to support the design and/or operati on of prototype and demonstrator FNRs, 
in particular 
– fuel fabrication facilities to develop and manufacture driver fuel and minor 
actinide bearing fuels for the prototype and demonstrator; 
– facilities for the development of materi als and components, code validation and 
qualification, and design and va lidation of safety systems. 
 
EN 44   EN 3. A comprehensive programme of R&D s upporting all aspects of the design, 
construction and operation of the prototype, demonstrator and s upport infrastructure. 
Cross-cutting R&D will also benefit current reactors in terms of maintaining safety and radiation protection, increasing performance and competitiveness, ensuring lifetime management, and implementing solutions for waste management. 
Actions 
Thanks to past and current R&D efforts in Eu rope, considerable expe rience in the various 
technology options has already be en acquired, and international cooperation in basic R&D is 
on-going as part of the Genera tion-IV International Forum (GIF). From this solid basis 
collaborative programmes of demonstration pl ants (prototypes and demonstrators) will 
emerge, supported by dedicated R&D programmes and infrastructures. Owing to the length of 
time before commercial deployment, the EII on sustainable nuclear en ergy is possible only 
with significant public funding. International cooperation for building prototypes and 
demonstrators might provide a wider financing base in some cases. In the following actions, 
pilot plants
 aim at establishing technica l performance, demonstrators  are the last pre-
commercial step to demonstrate the performan ce and reliability of all key aspects of the 
technology, and prototype reactors , the most advanced stage prior to commercial deployment, 
are the first to be coupled to the electricity grid in order to  demonstrate economic viability. 
1. Design, construction and operation of a prototype sodium fast reactor (SFR) 
coupled to the grid 
– Finalise the design and obtain a license for the construction of the SFR 
prototype in the range 250-600 MW e, with start of operation by 2020; 
– Demonstrate the safety of SFR technologi es by analysis and experiment, in 
particular by prevention and mitigation of severe accidents, including those linked to sodium; 
– Demonstrate the economic competitiveness and identify key areas for further 
cost reduction of SFR technologies (i mprovements in operability through 
monitoring, inspection and fuel handli ng, design options, material selection, 
increase of fuel burn-up) by return of  experience from operation between 2020 
and 2030; 
– Demonstrate, by return of experience, significantly reduced long-term burden 
of ultimate radioactive waste for fina l geological disposal through recycling 
and nuclear transformation in the react or of all actinides (including minor) 
extracted from spent nuclear fuel. 
2. Design, construction and operation of a demonstrator (not coupled to the grid) 
of alternative technology, either gas or le ad cooled fast reactor (GFR or LFR) 
– Perform comparative assessment of GFR and LFR technologies by 2012 and 
selection of reactor system for the demonstrator; 
– Finalise the design and obtain a license fo r the construction of the demonstrator 
in the range 50-100 MWth, with  start of operation by 2020; 
 
EN 45   EN – Demonstrate the technical performance and reliability of the alternative 
technology and identificatio n of design modifications for overall performance 
improvement; 
– Demonstrate safety and waste mini misation performance by return of 
experience 2020-30 and identify further improvements in safety design and 
fuel cycle; 
– Based on the return of e xperience 2020-30, prep are the design for a prototype; 
– In the case of GFR, extend the range of  applications of nuclear energy beyond 
the production of electricity through de veloping high temperature heat supply 
capabilities. 
3. Supporting infrastructures for prototype and demonstrator 
– Design the necessary fuel fabrication workshops  for the SFR prototype and 
alternative demonstrator reactor, dedi cated to uranium-plutonium driver and 
minor actinide bearing fuels; 
– Obtain licenses for construction of the fu el fabrication workshops and start the 
operation by 2017 in order to produce fuel for the prototype and demonstrator 
reactors at the time of their start-up in 2020; 
– Design, construct or upgrade a consistent suite of experimental facilities  for 
component design, system development and code qualification and validation 
that are essential in order to perform design and safety  analyses in support of 
the prototype and demonstrator reacto rs (hot cells, gas loops, liquid metal 
loops, irradiation facilities, …) 
4. Cross-cutting R&D programme 
– Basic and applied research to support the activities foreseen in the actions 
above. In particular, the development of simulation and testing tools and 
associated methodologies to support the design and operational assessment of 
the reactors and support facilities. This  will draw heavily on current R&D 
programmes, but efforts in all domains n eed to be intensified and focused on 
the EII objectives. Much of this research will be linked to nearer term R&D activities of relevance for current  nuclear technology, e.g. design and 
operational safety and radiation prot ection, waste management, component 
ageing and lifetime management, materials science and multiscale modelling of material behaviour (structural materials,  fuels, cladding),  code development 
and qualification, severe accident management, etc. 
 
EN 46   EN Indicative costs (2010-2020) 
Activities Costs18 
Prototype sodium fast reactor €2-4 billion19, depending on the electrical power (250-600 
MW e) and technical options 
Demonstrator alternative fast reactor €600-800 million
19 (50-100 MWth) 
Supporting infrastructures Fuel fabrication workshops : €600 million (U-Pu fuel) + 
€250-450 million (prototype fuel) 
Experimental facilities : €600-1600 million20 depending 
on the need for a specific fast neutron irradiation facility 
Cross-cutting R&D programme €1-2 billion21 
Total € 5-10 billion 
This reflects the total sum of the re quired public and private investments. 
Indicative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 
1. Demonstration of the safety and security cr edentials of the fast neutron reactors by 
obtaining a license to enable operation of th e prototype and demonstrator reactors to 
start in 2020. 
2. By 2020, through the operation of the fuel fabrication workshops: 
– production of up to several tonne s of driver fuel per year; 
– development of high performance mi nor actinide bearing fuel with a 
production of up to tens of kilograms per year. 
3. Demonstration, through the operation of th e prototype and demonstrator reactors 
starting in 2020, of the long-term sustaina bility of nuclear energy by exploiting at 
least 50% of the energy content of uran ium and significantly reducing the thermal 
load and lifetime (by up to a factor of 1000)  of ultimate high-level nuclear waste for 
final disposal. 
4. Demonstration by 2025 that the levelised cost for the electricity generation using 
future nuclear reactors is comparable w ith costs of other sources of low carbon 
electricity (e.g. Generation-III levelise d cost of electricity generation). 
                                                 
18 Costs currently under detailed analysis 
19 Includes basic detailed design, licensing, testing and qualification of components, construction, and 
start-up operations 
20 The cost of the research programmes performed in the experimental facilities is included in the cross-
cutting R&D action 
21 Equivalent to €100-200 / year over 10 years 
 
EN 47   EN Indicative Roadmap 
 
 
EN 48   EN EUROPEAN INITIATIVE ON SMART CITIES  
Strategic objective 
To demonstrate the feasibility of rapidly progressing towards our energy and climate 
objectives at a local level while provi ng to citizens that their quality of life  and local 
economies can be improved through investments in  energy efficiency and reduction of carbon 
emissions. This Initiative will foster the dissemination throughout Europe  of the most 
efficient models and strategies to progress towards a low carbon future. 
This Initiative will support cities and regions in taking ambitious and pioneering measures to 
progress by 2020 towards a 40% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through sustainable 
use and production of energy. This will requir e systemic approaches and organisational 
innovation, encompassing energy efficiency , low carbon technologies and the smart 
management of supply and demand. In partic ular, measures on buildings, local energy 
networks and transport would be the main components of the Initiative. 
The Initiative builds on existing EU and national policies and programmes, such as CIVITAS, 
CONCERTO and Intelligent Energy Europe. It  will draw upon the other SET-Plan Industrial 
Initiatives, in particular the Solar and Electricity Grid, as well as on the EU public-private 
partnership for Buildings and Green Cars establis hed under the European Economic Plan for 
Recovery. The local authorities involved in th e Covenant of Mayors (more than 500 cities) 
will be mobilised around this init iative to multiply its Impact.  
Specific objectives 
• To trigger a sufficient take-up (reaching 5% of  the EU population) of energy efficient and 
low carbon technologies to unlock the market. 
• To reduce by 40% the greenhouse gas22 emissions by 2020, that will demonstrate not only 
environmental and energy security benefits but  also to provide socio-economic advantages 
in terms of quality of life,  local employment and busine sses, and citizen empowerment. 
• To effectively spread across Europe best prac tices of sustainable energy concepts at local 
level, for instance through the Covenant of Majors. 
In moving towards these objec tives, local authorit ies will propose and implement holistic 
problem-solving approaches, in tegrating the most appropria te technologies and policy 
measures. This would involve ambitious and pi oneer measures in buildings, energy networks 
and transport. 
1. Buildings:  
– New buildings with net zero energy re quirements or net zero carbon emissions 
when averaged over the year by 2015, t hus anticipating the requirements of the 
recast Directive on the energy perfor mance of buildings (EPBD). This 
                                                 
22 Reference year 1990 
 
EN 49   EN requirement could be anticipated (e.g. 2012) for all new buildings of the local 
public authority (city). 
– Refurbish of the existing buildings to bring them to the lowest possible energy 
consumption levels (e.g. passive house sta ndard or level of efficiency that is 
justified by age, technology, architectural constrains) maintaining or increase 
performances and comfort. This would include innovative insulation material 
(solid insulation, vacuum insulation, vacuum windows, cool roofs, etc.) 
2. Energy networks 
Heating and Cooling 
– Innovative and cost effective bioma ss, solar thermal and geothermal 
applications 
– Innovative hybrid heating and cooling sy stems from biomass, solar thermal, 
ambient thermal and geothermal with advanced distributed heat storage technologies. 
– Highly efficient co- or tri- generation and district hea ting and cooling systems. 
Electricity – Smart grids, allowing renewable generation, electric vehicles charging, storage, 
demand response and grid balancing. 
– Smart metering and energy management systems. 
– Smart appliances (ICT, domestic applianc es), lighting (in particular solid state 
lighting for street and indoor), equipmen t (e.g. motor systems, water systems) 
– To foster local RES electricity production (especially PV and wind 
applications). 
3. Transport  
– 10 – 20 testing and deployment programmes  for low carbon public transport 
and individual transport systems, in cluding smart applications for ticketing, 
intelligent traffic management a nd congestion avoidance, demand 
management, travel information a nd communication, frei ght distribution, 
walking and cycling.  
– Sustainable mobility: advanced smart pub lic transport, intelligent traffic 
management and congestion avoidance, demand management, information and communication, freight distri bution, walking and cycling.  
Actions 
The Initiative will be modulated according to the cities' ambition and risk involved. Ambitious 
cities  could receive funding for technical assistan ce to facilitate acce ss to loans and risk 
sharing loans. Pioneer cities , taking much greater risks through radical technology and 
 
EN 50   EN organisational transformations, c ould in addition receive funding in the form of grants to 
support the implementation of the proposed p ackage of technologies and measures.  
The Smart Cities initiative w ill result on the following actions, spread across Europe but 
closely interlinked through the Covenant of Majors. 
1. Buildings: 
– Test 100 new residential and 100 new non -residential buildings for different 
design options for zero energy buildings in different climatic zones. In 
particular the focus should be on the design integration of the different 
technologies to prove cost-effective solution (no more than 5% of traditional construction costs), and on monitoring of  the performance under real use (the 
monitoring being part of the R&D) 
– Test and assess through 5-10 programmes, strategies for the refurbishment 
of at least 50% of existing public buildings  (including social housing, non-
residential buildings, etc.). Beside s technologies, innovative financing 
schemes, and refurbishment techniques will be developed and tested. 
– Test and assess through 5-10 programmes, strategi es for the complete 
refurbishment  of 50% of all existing buildings  (e.g. residential buildings, 
public buildings, non-residential buildi ngs, etc.). Besides technologies, 
innovative financing schemes, and re furbishment techniques have to be 
developed and tested. It is foreseen that these programmes will be allocated A 
much higher amount of funds will be allocated to this action.  
2. Energy Networks 
Heating and Cooling 
– 5-10 demonstration programmes for la rge deployment of RES heating and 
cooling in cities supplyin g 50 % of the heat and cooling demand from RES 
– 5-10 demonstration programmes for la rge scale RES heating and cooling 
integration in energy effi cient buildings in pioneer cities su pplying about 50% 
of the heat and cooling demand from RES 
Electricity – development and deployment programme focused on high efficient 
appliances lighting and smart metering 
– 5-10 development and deployment programmes  for smart grids in cities, in 
cooperation all relevant SET-Plan Initia tives, including priority access for local 
generation and renewable electricity, smart metering, storage, and demand 
response. European cities piloting the sm art grid concept in collaboration with 
local distribution companies will be given priority. 
3. Transport: 
 
EN 51   EN – 10-20 t esting programmes for the large deployment of alternative fuel 
vehicles, from road public transport and municipal fleets to private passenger 
vehicles (electric vehicles , hydrogen and fuel cells, low consumption vehicles, 
natural gas vehicles, biofuels, et c) including the fuel/energy supply 
infrastructure (e.g..  
– Development and testing programmes  focused on sustainable mobility 
including advanced smart public transpor t, intelligent traffic management and 
congestion avoidance, demand manage ment, information and communication, 
freight distribution, walking and cycling.  
Indicative costs (2010-2020) 
Actions Total (M€) 
1. New Buildings & Refurbishment of existing buildings (for 20 
millions citizen) 
2. Energy networks (Heating a nd Cooling and Electricity) 
3. Transport 10 000 - 12 000 
This reflects the total sum of the re quired public and private investments. 
Indicative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 
• Overall Key Performance Indicator: participa tion of 25 large cities (>500 000 inhabitants) 
and 5 very large cities (>1 000 000 inhabi tants) committing to implement the proposed 
demonstration, testing and deployment progra mmes in the 3 sectors – buildings, energy 
networks and transport and to go beyond th e 2020 EU climate and energy targets. 
Activities Key Performance Indicators  
• Average RES heating cost at 15€/GJ by 2020 
• 50% of the heat and coolin g demand from RES for 10-20 
programmes 2. Energy Networks 
• Establishment of smart grids coupled with smart building and 
equipment, RES electricity and smart meters. At least 20 pilot 
schemes by 2015 
3. Transport • In participating pioneer cities (20 cities) 100% for the municipal 
fleet running on alternative/clean fuels 
• In participating pioneer cities (20 cities), low carbon transport 
projects implemented by 2015 
 
EN 52   EN Indicative roadmap 
 
 
EN 53   EN EUROPEAN ENERGY RESEARCH ALLIANCE (EERA) 
Overall objective 
To accelerate the development of new energy t echnologies in support of the SET-Plan by 
strengthening, expanding and optimising EU en ergy research capabilit ies through the joint 
realisation of pan-European programmes and the sharing of world-class national facilities in 
Europe, drawing upon results from fundamental res earch in order to matu re technologies to 
the point where it can be embedde d in industry-driven research. 
Technology innovation objectives 
Achieving Europe's 2020 target s on greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy and energy 
efficiency will require the deployment of more efficient and less costly technologies, available 
today at large but unattractive to the market. If the 2050 vision for complete decarbonisation 
in the EU is to be seized, actions to de velop new energy technologies, through major 
breakthroughs and to advance these through the i nnovation chain to the market must be better 
organised, reinforced and carried out more e fficiently. The objectives of the EERA are to: 
1. Increase energy efficiency and emission reduction potential  – by focussing on 
medium to long term research questions, enabling the required system change and 
avoiding technological lock through incremental innovation. 
2. Decrease costs and time to market – by aligning national and European R&D 
programmes resulting in an increase in the efficiency of the research programmes by 
decreasing fragmentation and redundancy as we ll as sharing of wo rld-class research 
facilities through the joint realisation of pan-Europ ean research programmes. 
Actions 
The actions of the EERA comprise two levels : (1) Joint Programming and (2) linking the 
EERA programmes to other existi ng and emerging initiatives. 
1. Joint programming  – Joint Programmes will be launched for several areas such as 
wind, PV, CSP, CCS, materials for nuclear energy, geothermal, smart grids, marine 
energy, biofuels etc. These areas are in lin e with the selected SET-Plan technologies 
and comprise the majority of the Alliance's current activities portfolio. As such, these 
have been identified as the most potent fo r joint programming. Initially, the activities 
of EERA will be based on the alignment of its  own resources to meet a critical mass 
for a substantial programme undertaking. Ov er time, alignment with EU programmes 
can be achieved and the Joint Programme s expanded with additional sources, 
including from Community programmes. It is expected that the first Joint Programmes will be launched by the end of 2009. Ongoing deliberations by the Alliance members and in consultation with the relevant experts in the broader research community have preliminarily concluded on the following programmes: 
– Wind Energy : The Joint Programme for Wind Energy will be divided into 
four main areas: aerod ynamics, wind conditions, offshore wind farms and 
electrical integration. The programme will focus on optimising and up-scaling 
 
EN 54   EN large offshore turbines, where incremental scaling up of current concepts and 
technology leaps will lead to more  cost efficient wind turbines. 
– PV: Six priority themes have been identi fied as a starting point for a Joint 
Programme: silicon materials, organi c PV, module techno logy, transparent 
conductive oxides (TCO), large area depos ition and interfaces and education 
and training. Other topics will be added once the programme is advanced such as novel absorber materials for thin film s, reliability of components (i.e. ageing 
models), BIPV and thin film optics.  
– CCS : Within the CCS Joint Programme, a distinction is made between CO
2 
capture (oxy-combustion, pre-combusti on, post-combustion) and storage. 
Within separation techniques for pre-co mbustion and oxyfuel, activities will 
initially focus on oxygen transport, so rbents (including high temperature 
sulphur removal), hydrogen separati on membranes and sorption-enhanced 
reforming. The activities for oxy-combusti on technologies will at first instance 
focus on oxyfuel boilers, CO 2 processing for specific oxy-fuel, material 
selection for oxy-fuel, ga s turbine development and separation technologies, 
where process simulation and emissions from a capture unit will be handled as 
cross cutting issues. Research activiti es focussing on storage as well as pre-
combustion are yet to be identified. 
– Biofuels: Within the field of bio energy, a la rge number of actors are involved 
at different parts of various value chai ns, stressing the need for coordination of 
(pre-competitive) research. First research topics yet to be detailed, relate with biomass resources, combining thermochemical and biochemical conversion pathways.  
– CSP: Whilst yet large demonstrations of CSP plants are foreseen, the main 
challenge for research lies in the development of the second generation technologies. Pre-selected topics incl ude (high temperature) thermochemistry 
(CO
2 splitting), power generation and desalin ation, thermal storage, accelerated 
ageing and engines (e.g. di sh Stirling technology).  
– Geothermal energy: Main areas that will serve as  starting point for the joint 
activities are reservoir exploitatio n, reservoir accessing and engineering, 
thermal water looping and efficiency of  the geothermal power, heat and/or 
chill.  
– Materials for nuclear energy: The activities will focus on structural materials 
for Generation IV reactors. High-chrom ium-steels, refractory alloys and 
ceramics/composites were identified as  priority areas to undertake joint 
activities in the field of material deve lopment and screening, characterisation, 
fabrication, pre-normative research and modelling, simulation and experimental validation. 
– Other areas;  For smart grids, fuel cells and marine energy, preparatory steps 
to develop a Joint Programme have  been undertaken. Tentatively, the 
programme for smart grids will be cen tred on transmission, distribution and 
horizontal issues. 
 
EN 55   EN 2. Develop links and sustained partnerships  with existing and emerging initiatives 
The EERA aims to accelerate the development of new energy technologies by 
building upon the results of fundamental  research and ma turing technology 
development to a stage where it can be embedded in industry driven research. Therefore, close links with both industry driven research as well as fundamental 
research are key elements in the success of the EERA. 
2.1 Link to industry and industry driven research. Both on the level of Joint 
Programmes (e.g. Wind, PV, CSP etc.) as well as on the level of sub-
programmes (i.e. aerodynamics within  the Wind Joint Programme), the EERA 
aims to contribute to and complement the emerging EIIs as it may be necessary and mutually reinforcing the SET-Plan drive. In addition, the EERA will consider and build upon the Strategic Research Agendas (SRA) as developed in various Technology Platforms.  
2.2 Link to universities and fundamental research.  Both at national and EU-
level, the EERA aims to connect with  fundamental research as well as 
educational aspects. The European Un iversity Association (EUA), currently 
associated with the Alliance, has al ready created a platform to enable 
participation of universities in the EERA activities. In addition, EERA intends 
to develop a close link to the emerging European Institute of Technology (EIT) 
and their Knowledge and I nnovation Communities (KICs). 
2.3 Cooperation with non-EU leading research institutes.  Key technologies that 
are needed to meet the challenges with respect to climate change and security 
of supply have a global scale for depl oyment. In the pre-commercial phase 
where the EERA is focussing on, cooperati on with leading research institutes 
from e.g. the USA and Japan, can furthe r accelerate the re quired technology 
development. EERA has already started building up relationships with some 
national laboratories in the USA and aims  to further expand a nd strengthen this 
relationship both with res earch institutes from the USA as well as Japan. 
2.4 Collaboration with the SET-Pl an Information System (SETIS). In setting 
the right research priorities and m onitoring the development of progress 
(efficiency, costs) cooperation with SETIS is crucial. Discussions to streamline 
the cooperation are developing positively. 
Indicative Costs (2010 – 2020) 
Preliminary estimates by the Alliance to undertake and sustain the necessary joint 
programmes addressing the tec hnologies of today, to better these for market take-up and 
innovate for the technologies of tomorrow show that an additional investment of about 500 million euros per year is required to comp lement the activities based on Member State 
funding. 
 
EN 56   EN Indicative Key Performance Indicators (KPI) 
There envisaged two set KPIs, to address th e progress and success of joint programming for 
energy technology innovation, the effectiveness of the EERA li nks with industrial driven 
research, i.e. alignment with thes e of the Industrial Initiatives as  well as fundamental research 
and with international RTD efforts. The identifi cation of and formulation of the various KPIs 
will be addressed soon with the assistance of the SET-Plan Information System (SETIS). An 
example of the foreseen KPIs for Joint Programming is given below. 
Activity Key performance indicators 
Joint programming • No. of joint programmes 
• No.of scientists involved 
• No.of research in stitutes involved 
• total budget of the progr amme by funding category 
• No.of patents 
• No.of cooperative schemes with EIT/KIC 
• No.programmes/activities with US, Japan etc.