Commission staff working document - Accompanying document to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee 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}
Date: 2009-10-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU industrial policy, action programme, climate change, energy policy, energy research, environmental policy, reduction of gas emissions, renewable energy

EN 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 7.10.2009 
SEC(2009) 1295  

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

Accompanying document to the 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE 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 

   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. 

2. 

2.1. 

2.2. 

3. 

4. 

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 4 

Technology Roadmaps................................................................................................. 4 

Concept and methodology............................................................................................ 4 

Limitations ................................................................................................................... 5 

The SET-Plan Roadmap on Low Carbon Energy Technologies ................................. 6 

Summary of Roadmaps ................................................................................................ 8 

4.1.  Wind energy ................................................................................................................. 8 

4.2. 

4.3. 

4.4. 

4.5. 

4.6. 

4.7. 

4.8. 

4.9. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

Solar energy ................................................................................................................. 9 

Electricity grid............................................................................................................ 10 

Bioenergy ................................................................................................................... 10 

Carbon capture and storage........................................................................................ 11 

Nuclear fission ........................................................................................................... 11 

Energy efficiency – Smart Cities Initiative................................................................ 12 

Key milestones of the roadmaps ................................................................................ 12 

European Energy Research Alliance (EERA)............................................................ 14 

Synergies and Specific Issues .................................................................................... 14 

Cross-Cutting Activities............................................................................................. 14 

Next Steps .................................................................................................................. 15 

Technology Roadmaps ............................................................................................................. 16 

European Industrial Initiative on Wind Energy....................................................................... 16 

European Industrial Initiative On Solar Energy...................................................................... 21 

European Industrial Initiative on Solar Energy - Photovoltaic Energy .................................. 21 

European Industrial Initiative on Solar Energy – Concentrating Solar Power ...................... 25 

European Industrial Initiative on Bioenergy ........................................................................... 30 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
 
European Industrial Initiative 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 

3 

   EN 

 
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

The achievement of the goals of the European energy and climate change policy necessitates 
the  development  and  deployment  of  a  diverse  portfolio  of  low  carbon  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 conventional energy technologies unless there is a radical change in our 
attitude and investment priorities 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  technologies  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  and  demonstration  planning  and 
implementation with a focus on large scale programmes. 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 scale programmes such as the European Industrial Initiatives (EIIs) that 
bring together industry, the research community, the Member States and the Commission in 
risk-sharing,  public-private  partnerships  aiming  at  the  rapid  development  of  key  energy 
technologies at the European level. Six priority technologies have already been identified as 
the focal points of the first EIIs: wind, solar, electricity grids, bioenergy, carbon capture and 
storage  and  sustainable  nuclear  fission.  A  further  initiative  on  energy  efficiency  in  cities  is 
currently being proposed, with the aim of stimulating the take-up of low carbon technologies 
developed in the other EIIs or by other programmes. Other Initiatives may be proposed in the 
future.  In  parallel,  the  European  Energy  Research  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 priorities 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  Industrial 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 planning and decision making. They 
have  been  drawn  up  by  the  Commission  services  from  the  ongoing  work  to  define  the 
proposed European Industrial Initiatives. This has been a collective endeavour that started in 
2008  based  on  industry  proposals,  and  has  advanced  through  continuous  discussions, 
workshops, multilateral meetings and expert consultations between the Commission services 
and the European energy technology platforms, the relevant sector associations, the research 
community, Member States and other stakeholders. In this framework, the information system 

1 
2 
3 

COM(2007)1 
COM(2008)0781 
O.  Edenhofer  and  N.  Stern:  Towards  a  global  green  recovery,  Recommendations  for  immediate  G20 
Action, G20 London Summit, 2009 

EN 

4 

   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 technological development and market 
potential  through  its  Technology  Map;  and  on  the  ongoing  private  and  public  R&D 
investments  in  these  technologies  through  its  Capacities  Map.  Significant  steps  have  been 
taken  to  define  measurable  and  suitably  ambitious  technological  objectives  and  of  the 
required research, development and demonstration activities for each EII. Consultations with 
the  European  Community  Steering  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  information,  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 necessary in function of the available resources 
and the logic of intervention at different levels. 

In particular, the technology penetration targets communicated as the non-binding goals of the 
European  Initiatives  are  proposed  by  the  industry  sectors,  illustrating  the  level  of  their 
ambition  and  vision.  Hence,  these  should  be  distinguished  from  the  already  adopted  EC 
targets. They have not been thoroughly analysed by the Commission Services and therefore 
their  degree  of  feasibility  and  the  likeliness  of  reaching  the  indicated  maximum  penetration 
levels  cannot  be  corroborated.  The  SET-Plan  information  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 technological 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 each case, the activities are tailored to the specific innovation 
needs,  reflecting  also  non-technological  barriers.  Similarly,  the  anticipated  impact  of  the 
Initiatives  varies  both  in  volume,  intensity  and  timing.  It  is  recommended  to  keep  the 
technology specificities of the roadmaps when furthering their implementation as a European 
Industrial Initiative. 

The  SET-Plan  information  system  (SETIS)  will  provide  a  technology-neutral  performance 
management  framework  to  meaningfully  monitor  progress  towards  the  objectives  of  the 
Initiatives  and  the  SET-Plan  as  a  whole,  ensuring  the  cost-effectiveness  of  the  allocation  of 
public funding. 

4 

http://setis.ec.europa.eu (to be released in October 2009) 

EN 

5 

   EN 

 
                                                 
3. 

THE SET-PLAN ROADMAP ON LOW CARBON ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES 

Seven roadmaps are proposed, built around a vision 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 raising the maturity of the technologies to a level 
that will enable them to achieve large market 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 electricity will be generated by solar energy in 2020. However if the 
DESERTEC5 vision is achieved, the contribution 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"  principle,  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 continue 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  research.  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 technology fully cost-competitive, more efficient 
and  proven  at  the  right  scale  for  market  roll-out.  For  these  technology  areas,  concrete 
research,  development,  demonstration  and  market  replication  activities,  for  which  working 
together  can  make  a  difference  in  terms  of  maximizing  the  industrial  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 

6 

   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  technological  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  particularly  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 successful transfer of products 
from  the  demonstration  stage  into  first  markets,  addressing  the  'valley  of  death' 
phenomenon. 

In  essence,  the  roadmaps  call  for  an  unprecedented  European  research,  development  and 
demonstration programme that comprises: 

– 

– 

– 

– 

vigorous R&D programmes on materials; component design, development and 
testing in pilot plants; energy 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  infrastructures,  that  include  testing  facilities  for  technology 
components, manufacturing of nuclear fuels, etc. 

comprehensive  demonstration  programmes  that  include  demonstrators  for  all 
technologies, to bridge the gap and accelerate the transfer of technologies from 
research to market deployment 

market replication measures to demonstrate the feasibility and gain experience 
on  key  concepts  that  will  become  the  backbone  of  the  future  energy  system, 
such  as  virtual  power  plants  to  accommodate  variable  power,  large  scale 
photovoltaic systems in cities, and other energy efficiency measures. 

This  European  research,  development  and  demonstration  programme  on  low  carbon  energy 
technologies  has  been  estimated  by  the  Commission  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  shown  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  EII.  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 

7 

   EN 

 
Table 1: Cost estimates of the proposed SET-Plan EIIs and the Smart Cities Initiative 

European Industrial Initiatives 

Total (b€) 

Wind Energy 

Solar Energy (PV & CSP) 

Bioenergy 

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) 

Electricity grid 

Sustainable Nuclear Energy 

Smart Cities 

Total 

6  

16 

9 

10.5 - 16.5 

2 

5 – 10 

10 – 12 

58.5 – 71.5 

It is noted that although the cost of the electricity grid EII is significantly lower than that of 
other  EIIs,  the  issue  of  integrating  distributed  energy  sources  in  the  transmission  and  the 
distribution  power  grid  is  addressed  in  the  Wind  and  Solar  EIIs,  where  activities  with  their 
own budget have been planned. 

In  2007,  the  total  R&D  public  and  corporate  investments  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 integration 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 resource mapping and spatial planning tools will have 
to  be  developed.  A  new  generation  of  large  scale,  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 offshore potential in deep waters. Manufacturing processes have to 
be  further  automated  and  optimised  relying  notably  on  industrial  cooperation  with  other 
sectors; and the whole logistics cycle from component manufacture, transport and erection to 
wind  farm  operation  and  maintenance  has  to  be  worked  out  and  refined.  In  addition,  an 

6 

SEC(2009)1296 

EN 

8 

   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 variable power supply. 

To  this  end,  the  EII  proposes  to  develop  a  more  accurate  mapping  of  wind  resources  and 
capacity  potentials  in  Europe  including  hostile  and  complex  environments,  through 
coordinated measurement campaigns and the development of spatial planning tools; to build 
5-10 new testing facilities for new turbine systems; up to 10 demonstration projects of next 
generation  turbines  including  a  10-20  MW  prototype;  at  least  4  prototypes  of  new  offshore 
structures  tested  in  different  environments;  demonstration  of  new  manufacturing  processes; 
and testing the viability of new logistics strategies and erection techniques in remote and often 
hostile  weather  environments;  and  to  demonstrate  at  an  industrial  scale,  grid  integration 
techniques to manage wind farms as “virtual power plants”. All of this will be underpinned by 
a  comprehensive  research  programme  to  constantly  improve  the  technical  and  economic 
performance  of  wind  turbines.  The  cost  of  such  a  European  programme  is  estimated  at  €6 
billion over the next ten years. 

4.2. 

Solar energy 

The  European  Industrial  Initiative  on  solar  energy  focuses  on  photovoltaics  (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 establish PV as a competitive and sustainable energy 
technology  contributing  up  to  12%  of  European  electricity  demand  by  2020.  For  the  CSP 
component,  the  objective  is  to  demonstrate  the  competitiveness  and  readiness  for  mass 
deployment of advanced CSP plants, through scaling-up of the most promising technologies 
to  pre-commercial  or  commercial  level  in  order  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  the  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  grid.  The  EII  proposes  an  R&D  programme  focused 
on increasing performance and extending 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 manufacturing processes for mass 
production; and a portfolio of demonstration projects of PV power production in decentralized 
applications and in urban communities, e.g. as building integrated concepts and as centralised 
power plants of 50-100 MW. This will be underpinned 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 through better  storage systems and  hybridisation 
and reducing water consumption by developing new 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 

9 

   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  first-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 and €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  dispersed  and  concentrated 
renewable sources by 2020 and a completely decarbonised electricity production by 2050; to 
integrate  further  national  networks  into  a  market-based  truly  pan-European  network,  to 
guarantee  a  high  quality  of  electricity  supply  to  all  customers  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 and demonstration programme to 
identify and implement the most suitable grid architectures. The research part concentrates on 
the development of new technologies to improve flexibility 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  innovative  pan-European  grid 
architectures.  In  parallel,  up  to  20  large-scale  demonstration  projects  covering  diversified 
geographical,  social  and  climate  conditions  are  proposed  to  validate  solutions  before  their 
market roll-out, in all sectors from home energy efficiency through smart meters to the system 
integration  of  variable  energy  sources  to  the  automation  and  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 assets used in 
the demonstration, estimated in several billions euros, paid directly by the balance sheet of the 
network operators and of other participants. 

4.4. 

Bioenergy 

The European Industrial Initiative on Bioenergy addresses the technical and economic barriers 
to the further development and accelerated commercial deployment of bioenergy technologies 
for widespread sustainable exploitation of  biomass  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% for bio-fuels and bio-liquids under the sustainability criteria 
of the new RES Directive. 

Bioenergy  encompasses  a  chain  of  technologies  from  the  production  of  biomass  in  a 
sustainable  manner,  meaning  cultivation,  harvesting,  transportation,  storage  and  eventually 
pre-treatment  before  use  in  a  conversion  process  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  electricity  (CHP)  is  moving  to  wide  commercial  exploitation  in  co-
firing  systems  with  fossil  fuels,  particularly  coal,  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-cellulosic  biomass  is  only  at  the  pilot  scale, 
although demonstration projects will be on line 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 bioenergy systems. Only approximate figures for 

EN 

10 

   EN 

 
ligno-cellulosic biofuel production can be given in the absence of large-scale demonstration 
performance data. With the exception of biomass co-firing in fossil power plants and biogas 
production from agricultural residues, all other technologies still require considerable research 
and development. 

The EII proposes to carry out an ambitious demonstration programme of different bio-energy 
pathways  at  a  scale  appropriate  to  the  level  of  their  maturity  –  pilot  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 research programme will support the bio-energy industry 
development beyond 2020. The cost of such a European programme is estimated at €9 billion 
over the next ten years. 

4.5. 

Carbon capture and storage 

The objective of the European Industrial Initiative on Carbon Capture 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 intensive industrial sectors. 

Today, most elements of the CCS chain of technologies (comprising CO2 capture, transport 
and  underground  storage)  are  used  commercially,  albeit  at  a  scale  much  smaller  than  that 
required  for  power  generation  or  by  other  carbon  intensive  industries.  Furthermore,  the 
technology  is  expensive,  its  utilization  reduces  significantly  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 CO2 storage. A prerequisite for the large scale deployment of 
CCS is the demonstration of the technical and economic feasibility of existing technologies. 
At  the  same  time,  a  comprehensive  research  programme  is  needed  to  reduce  costs,  increase 
efficiencies across the whole CCS technology chain, particularly in the capture process, and 
optimize the technology for use in all carbon intensive industrial sectors. 

In  response  to  these  challenges,  a  portfolio  of  different  demonstration  projects  needs  to  be 
constructed within the next five years, to test existing CCS technologies and their integration 
and  demonstrate  their  long  term  operational  availability  and  reliability.  The  demonstration 
projects  shall  be  networked  at  EU  level  to  increase  the  level  of  knowledge  sharing  and 
promote  common  activities.  The  research  programme  shall  deliver  more  efficient  and  cost 
competitive  CCS  technologies  based  on  improved  components,  integrated  systems  and 
processes to make CCS commercially feasible by 2020. Preparations for the roll-out phase of 
CCS, including CO2 transport and storage infrastructure 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  radioactive  waste.  Some  types  –  the  high-temperature 

EN 

11 

   EN 

 
reactors – will also have the ability to co-generate electricity and process heat for industrial 
purposes  (oil,  chemical  and  metal  industry  needs  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 reactor of an alternative fast neutron design, either 
lead or gas cooled, not coupled to the grid. The decision on whether 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 advanced reactor design and construction. Operation 
of the prototype and demonstrator reactors from 2020 will allow a return of experience that, 
coupled  with  further  R&D,  will  enable  commercial  deployment  starting  from  2040.  At  the 
same time, a coordinated programme of cross-cutting research will be conducted in all aspects 
of  nuclear  reactor  safety,  performance,  lifetime  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 current nuclear plants that are providing 30% of 
billion over the next ten years. 
EU electricity. The cost of the Initiative is estimated at €5-€10 

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 particular, measures on buildings, local energy 
networks and transport would be the main components of the Initiative. It builds on existing 
EU  and  national  policies  and  measures  and  it  draws  upon  the  other  SET-Plan  Industrial 
Initiatives in particular the solar and electricity grid. It also relies on the European Economic 
Plan for Recovery, and public-private partnerships on Buildings and Green Cars. 

In  order  to  achieve  the  above  measures,  the  Smart  Cities  Initiative  proposes  ambitious 
development, deployment and testing programmes for building, energy networks (heating and 
cooling, electricity) and transport applications to test and validate advanced energy efficient 
and  low  carbon  technologies  and  programme  strategies  under  real-life  conditions.  This 
includes the testing and assessment in the next 10 years of up to 200 zero-energy buildings in 
different climatic zones, of different strategies for the refurbishment of existing buildings; the 
establishment of up to 10 development and deployment programmes for smart grids in cities, 
the  set  up  of  development  and  testing  programmes  for  the  large  deployment  of  low  carbon 
transport  systems  and  alternative  fuel  vehicles.  In  parallel,  demonstration  programmes  will 
focus on the large scale deployment of RES heating 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 the key milestones of each EII, assuming that 
all activities start in 2010. More details are given in the individual roadmaps. 

EN 

12 

   EN 

 
EN 

13 

   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  essential  to  develop  such  new  generations  of 
energy technologies, to lower their costs and accelerate the time for market take-up. EERA is 
the  EU  response  to  a  better  organised  and  more  efficient  research  based  on  European 
excellence. The objectives of the EERA are therefore to accelerate  the development  of new 
energy technologies in support of the SET-Plan by strengthening, expanding and optimising 
EU  energy  research  capabilities  through  the  sharing  of  world-class  national  facilities  in 
Europe and the joint realisation of pan-European 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. These activities will be complemented 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. 

SYNERGIES AND SPECIFIC ISSUES 

Due  to  the  necessary  combination  of  a  range  of  energy  technologies  into  the  future  energy 
mix, several technology roadmaps have  prioritised integrating  activities. An obvious case is 
the  supply  of  inherently  variable  energy  sources  such  as  solar  and  wind  into  the  electricity 
network,  which  is  addressed  in  the  EII  on  electricity  grid  as  well  as  in  the  relevant 
these  activities  have  been  formulated 
technology-specific  EIIs.  Although  currently 
independently,  discussions  have  started  between  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 effective 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 illustrated 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  horizon.  Due  consideration  of  these  long-term 
specific issues needs to be made when progressing towards the implementation of the EIIs. 

6. 

CROSS-CUTTING ACTIVITIES 

All Initiatives have addressed a number of common cross-cutting issues that are essential for 
the  successful  development  of  technologies.  These  issues  include  public  acceptance,  human 
resources and international cooperation. 

The transition to a low carbon economy will require 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  generation  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  activities  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 carbon technologies in the coming years requires a large pool of 
skilled  personnel  to  secure  the  foreseen  industrial  growth.  In  response  to  this  challenge,  a 

EN 

14 

   EN 

 
large scale pan-European activity is being planned to create the necessary training schemes, 
filling the needs of the future 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 cooperation is a key priority of the SET-Plan, which has 
been transposed into the roadmaps. In particular, several EIIs envisage 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 developed or emerging economies, either bilaterally or 
through global institutions may also play a prominent role in many EIIs. 

7. 

NEXT STEPS 

As  already  stressed  in  section  2.2,  these  roadmaps  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  their  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 elaborated and agreed; and concrete projects have to 
be identified for rapid implementation. 

EN 

15 

   EN 

 
TECHNOLOGY ROADMAPS 

EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL INITIATIVE ON WIND ENERGY 

Strategic objective 

To improve the competitiveness of wind energy technologies, to enable the exploitation of the 
offshore resources and deep waters potential, and to facilitate grid integration 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  the  range  of  10  -  20  MW  especially  for 
offshore applications. 

To improve the reliability of the wind turbine components through the use of 
new materials, advanced rotor designs, control and monitoring systems. 

To  further  automate  and  optimise  manufacturing  processes  such  as  blade 
manufacturing through cross industrial cooperation with automotive, maritime 
and civil aerospace. 

To develop innovative logistics including transport and erection 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 and standardised substructures for large-
scale offshore turbines such as: tripods, 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  penetration  of  variable  electricity 
supply. 

– 

To demonstrate the feasibility of balancing power systems with high share of 
wind  power  using  large-scale  storage  systems  and  High  Voltage  Alternative 
Current (HVAC) or High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) interconnections. 

EN 

16 

   EN 

 
– 

To investigate wind farms management as “virtual power plants". 

4. 

Resource assessment and spatial planning to support wind energy deployment. 

– 

– 

– 

To  assess  and  map  wind  resources  across  Europe  and  to  reduce  forecasting 
uncertainties of wind energy production. 

To  develop  spatial  planning  methodologies  and  tools  taking  into  account 
environmental and social aspects. 

To  address  and  analyse  social  acceptance  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  offshore  applications  coupled  with  a 
demonstration programme dedicated to the 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  other  industrial  sectors  (e.g.  offshore 
exploration)  for  mass  production  of  wind  systems  focused  on  increased 
component  and  system  reliability,  advanced  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. 

Grid  integration  techniques  for  large-scale  penetration  of  variable  electricity 
supply. A programme focused on wind farms management as “virtual power plants”8 
to demonstrate at the industrial-scale: 

A virtual power plant is a cluster of distributed generation 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) 

3. 

8 

EN 

17 

   EN 

 
                                                 
– 

– 

– 

Offshore  wind  farms  interconnected  to  at  least  two  countries  and  combined 
with the use of different grid interconnection techniques. 

Long distance High Voltage Direct Current. 

Controllable  multi-terminal  offshore  solutions  with  multiple  converters  and 
cable suppliers. 

4. 

Resource assessment and spatial planning to support wind energy deployment. A 
R&D programme for forecasting distribution 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 

1. New turbines and components 

2. Offshore structure-related technologies 

3. Grid integration 

4. Resource assessment and spatial planning 

Total 

Costs (M€) 

2 500 

1 200 

2 100 

200 

6 000 

This reflects the total sum of the required public and private investments. 

EN 

18 

   EN 

 
Indicative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 

•  Strategic  Key  Performance  Indicator:  average  wind  energy  electricity  production  cost 

reduced by 20% by 20209 

Activities 

Key Performance Indicators  

1. New turbines and 
components 

•  Manufacturing  costs  of  wind 

turbines  and 

their 

components reduced by 20% by 2020 

•  Transport  and  erection  costs  of  on-  and  offshore  wind 

turbines reduced by 20% by 2020 

2. Offshore structure-
related technologies 

•  Installation costs of offshore wind turbines reduced by 

20% by 2020 

•  Maintenance  costs  of  offshore  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 
10 

Under the same assumptions as presented by Wind Energy –The Facts www.wind-energy-the-facts.org 
See footnote 8 

EN 

19 

   EN 

 
                                                 
Indicative Roadmap 

EN 

20 

   EN 

 
 
EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL INITIATIVE ON SOLAR ENERGY 

EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL INITIATIVE ON SOLAR ENERGY - PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY 

Strategic objective 

To  improve  the  competitiveness  and  ensure  the  sustainability  of  the  technology  and  to 
facilitate its large-scale penetration in urban areas and as free-field production 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 efficiency, stability and lifetime. 

To  further  develop  and  demonstrate  advanced,  high-yield,  high-throughput 
manufacturing processes, including in-line monitoring and control 

To develop advanced concepts and new generation of PV systems 

2. 

Integration of PV-generated electricity 

To develop and validate innovative, economic and sustainable PV applications 

To develop grid interfaces and storage technologies capable of optimising the 
PV contribution to the EU electrical energy supply from installations urban and 
in green field environments 

– 

– 

Actions 

To meet these challenges 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  processes.  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 will be demonstrated on pilot production 
environments. 

EN 

21 

   EN 

 
– 

– 

A  collaborative  technological  development  programme  on  manufacturing 
process  development  to  address  the  twin  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 substrates for ultra-thin polycrystalline 
silicon cells or high-throughput deposition for other thin-film material systems 
have  to  be  developed  and  demonstrated  in  pilot  production  lines.  Such  trials 
should  include  a  complete  range  of  features  so  as  to  facilitate  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  feasibility  include  up/down  converters,  quantum 
and  plasmonic  effects  to  boost  efficiency,  device  concepts  for  organic/ 
inorganic  hybrids  and  multi-junction  materials,  and  bulk-type  intermediate 
band materials. 

2. 

Integration of PV-generated electricity 

– 

– 

– 

A  technology  development  and  demonstration  programme  for  Building-
Integrated PV (BIPV). Aesthetics and suitability are the challenges that relate 
to  both  the  appearance  and  functionality  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 
typical  urban  environments  and  small 
the 
decentralised  communities  demonstration  projects  ("Solar  Cities")  will  be 
promoted. 

large-scale  deployment 

in 

A  technology  development  and  demonstration  programme  on  stand-alone 
and  large  ground-based  PV  systems,  such  as  simplified  module  mounting 
structures,  combined  inverter  and  tracker  electronics,  combined  maximum 
power  point  and  smart  tracking  control,  low  cost  support  structures,  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 terms of feasibility, costs 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 large-scale field trials and assessment of 
their  lifetime  and  cost  will  promote  the  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  regulation,  power  management  and  use  of 
distributed energy storage. 

EN 

22 

   EN 

 
Indicative costs (2010-2020) 

Technology objectives 

1. PV systems 

2. Integration of PV-generated electricity 

Total 

Costs (M€) 

5 500 

3 500 

9 000 

This reflects the total sum of the required 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  silicon  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 

23 

   EN 

 
Indicative Roadmap 

EN 

24 

   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-commercial or commercial level. 

Industrial sector objective 

To contribute around 3% of European electricity supply by 2020 with a potential of at least 
10% by 2030 if the DESERTEC11 vision is achieved. 

Technology objectives 

Achieving  large-scale,  sustainable  deployment  of  advanced  CSP  plants  with  better 
performance and lower costs requires addressing a series of technical issues, as well 
as carrying out a parallel series R&D and demonstration activities designed to better 
exploit the inherent strengths of CSP technology. 

1. 

Reduction of generation, operation and maintenance costs 

– 

– 

To improve the conversion efficiency at system 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 storage, as well as hybridisation of the 
power plant with natural gas and potentially with bio-mass renewable energy. 

3. 

Improvement in the environmental and water-use footprint 

– 

To  reduce  the  cooling  water  consumption  through  innovative  cycles,  by 
developing  dry  cooling  systems  and  optimising  land  use  through  new  and 
innovative designs. 

– 

To demonstrate CSP-specific sustainable water desalination processes. 

4. 

Advanced concepts & designs 

– 

To address advanced components, 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 Europe. (MENA = Middle East, and North Africa) 

EN 

25 

   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 addressed 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  solutions,  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 increased 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,  more  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  assessment  of  alternative  heat  transfer 
fluids with lower costs, low environmental 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 energy sources in order to increase the 
ability to deliver electricity at any given 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  materials  for  heat  energy  storage  and 
heat transfer systems will be developed and tested (transfer fluids, filler 

EN 

26 

   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  purification  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 (ORC) coupled with conventional steam 
cycle; 

3.2  Develop and demonstrate dry cooling systems; 

3.3  Develop  and  demonstrate  CSP-specific  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 approaches to the critical major components. 

Indicative costs (2010-2020) 

Technology Objectives  

1. Increase efficiency & Reduce generation costs 

2. Increase dispatchability 

3. Improve the environmental footprint 

4. Longer term R&D  

Total 

Costs (M€) 

4 400 

1 700 

800 

100 

7 000 

This reflects the total sum of the required public and private investments. 

EN 

27 

   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 

water 
reduction 
consumption  with  only  minor  loss  of 
performance 

of 

•  Substantial  reduction  in  land  use  per  MW 

installed 

EN 

28 

   EN 

 
Indicative Roadmap 

EN 

29 

   EN 

 
 
EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL INITIATIVE ON BIOENERGY 

Strategic objective 

To  address  the  technical-economic  barriers  to  the  further  development  and  accelerated 
commercial  deployment  of  bioenergy  conversion  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-fuels and bio-liquids under the sustainability 
criteria of the new RES directive. 

Technology objectives 

1. 

2. 

3. 

Bring  to  commercial  maturity  the  currently  most  promising  technologies  and 
value-chains  through  the  development  and  optimisation  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, reliability and maintenance of plants. 

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  availability,  production  and  harvesting  are  not 
specific to the bioenergy use of biomass and are to be addressed in a coherent effort 
shared with relevant stakeholders and initiatives13. 

Develop  a  longer  term  R&D  programme  to  support  the  Bioenergy  industry 
development beyond 2020. 

Actions 

1. 

Optimisation  of 
thermo-chemical 
the  most  promising  value  chains  within 
(characterised  by  the  use  of  high  temperature  transformations)  and  biochemical 
(characterised by the use of biological and chemical processes) pathways. As within 
the  current  R&D  efforts  in  Europe,  several  technology  options  have  shown 
promising  performances  at  pilot  scale,  this  calls  for  a  collaborative  programme  of 
demonstration  and  first-of-this-kind  industrial-size  plants  depending  on  the  level  of 
maturity  of  each  specific  value  chain,  supported  by  targeted  RTD  actions.  If  pilot 
plants  aim  at  establishing  technical  performance,  demonstration  plants  (D)  are  the 
last non-economic step to demonstrate the performance and reliability 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 
13 

Large single production units or large number of smaller units 
Local and national authorities, farming associations, European Technology Platforms such as Plants for 
the Future and Forestry 

EN 

30 

   EN 

 
                                                 
Within  the  thermo-chemical  pathways,  the  five  generic  value  chains  listed  below 
will  be  optimised  for  the  production  of  gas,  liquids,  heat  and  power  from  a  large 
variety  of  lignocellulosic  material.  Activities  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  other  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 bioenergy carriers such as bio-oil and 

solid intemediates (2-3 F plants). 

E:  Co-processing of biomass and bio-energy 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-treatment  and  downstream  processing  and  the 
optimised  use  of  advanced  enzymes,  ensuring  the  optimum  production  of  valuable 
co-products where possible: 

A:  Production of ethanol and higher alcohols from ligno-cellulosic feedstock 
(agricultural and forest biomass – either residues or dedicated 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.  diesel  and  jet  fuel)  through  biological 
and/or  chemical  process  from  biomass  containing  carbohydrates.  (2-3D 
and 1-2F plants preceded by some RTD activities and pilots) 

C:  The  micro-organism  (algae,  bacteria)-based  production  of  bioenergy 
carriers (e.g. bio-oils) from CO2 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  development/optimisation  of  technologies  and 
logistics for sustainable feedstock production, management and harvesting. A set of 
activities  will  therefore  be  implemented  together  with  concerned  stakeholders  to 
assess  sustainable  biomass  availability  in  Europe,  to  develop  improved  crops 
(including  aquatic  crops)  suitable  for  the  production  of  biofuels  or  chemicals,  to 
develop better harvesting technologies, to improve forest management techniques or 
the fuel extraction from waste. 

EN 

31 

   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  value  chains  able  to  further  improve  the 
performance of the concerned processes and/or to permit the exploitation of new raw 
materials under sustainable 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. 

B:  Bio-methane  and  other  bio-synthesitic 
gaseous fuels through gasification. 

Pilot & 
demo 

1-2D, 2-3F 

Example  of  potential  specific  value  chains  for 
the thermochemical pathways are: 

Pilot 

1-2D, 2-3 F 

from black liquor 

•  Bio-dimethyether  (DME)  and  methanol 

C:  Heat  and  electrical  power  through 
gasification. 

Demo 

2-3 F 

•  Fisher-Tropsch  diesel  and  naphtha  from 
waste  wood,  forest  residues,  short  rotation 
crops, straw forest residues, stumps, bark 

D: Intermediate bioenergy carriers through 
techniques 
and 
as 
torrefaction. 

pyrolysis 

such 

E:  Co-processing  biomass  and/or  bio-
energy carriers with petroleum oil. 

Pilot & 
demo 

2-3 F 

•  Bio-methane 
biomass 

from  dry 

lignocellulosic 

Demo  

2-3 F 

from forest residue 

•  Bio-oil  for  light/heavy  oil  applications 

Biochemical pathways  

5-8D, 4-7 F 

A:  Ethanol,  higher  alcohols  and  valuable 
co-products 
ligno-cellulosic 
feedstock  through  chemical and biological 
processes. 

from 

B:  Hydrocarbons  (e.g.  diesel  and  jet  fuel) 
chemical 
through 
Synthesis 
containing 
carbohydrates. 

biological 
from 

biomass 

and/or 

C: Transportation fuels (e.g. biodiesel and 
aviation  fuels)  and  valuable  by-products 
from  bioenergy  carriers  produced  by 
micro-organisms (algae, bacteria). 

Pilot & 
demo 

1-2D, 2-3 F 

Example  of  potential  specific  value  chain  for 
the biochemical pathways are: 

Lab 

2-3D, 1-2 F 

•  Ethanol 

from 

dedicated 

feedstocks, 

agricultural bio-products, wood wastes 

•  Ethanol,  animal  feed  and  fertiliser  from 

food industry waste and side streams 

Pilot 

2-3D, 1-2 F 

•  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 

32 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Technology pathways /  
Generic value-chains and support 
activities 

Maturity 
in Europe 

Estimated 
N° of 
plants14 

Potential specific value-chains  

2-3.Supporting and complementary activities 

Types of activities 

2:  Contribution  to  activities  on  biomass 
feedstock 
production, 
assessment, 
management  and  harvesting  for  energy 
purposes 

2-3 P, 1D 

Studies  on  biomass  availability  assessment, 
R&D  on  improved  and  new  crops  (including 
aquatic  crops)  and  pilots/demonstration  on 
optimised 
for 
sustainable  feedstock  production,  management 
and harvesting. 

technologies  and 

logistics 

3:  Identification  of  new  value  chains  via 
longer term RTD programmes  

1-2P, 1-2 D  Various  R&D,  pilot 
activities 

and  demonstration 

Indicative costs (2010-2020) 

Technology Objectives  

Costs (M€) 

1. Optimisation of the most promising value chains via: 

a. 

Thermochemical  pathways  from 
feedstock 

lingo-cellulosic 

4 500 

b. 

Biochemical pathways 

2. Support activities on biomass feedstock assessment, production, 
management and harvesting for energy purposes 

3. Identification of new value chains via longer term RTD 
programmes 

Total 

3 400 

600 

400 

9 000 

This reflects the total sum of the required public and private investments. 

Indicative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 

For electricity generation 

– 

– 

Investment cost < 1500 €/kWe by 2015-2020 

Electricity production cost < 0.05 €/kWh by 2015-2020 

For Biofuels production 

– 

– 

15 

Biofuel production cost < 0.6 € /litre gasoline equivalent 15 (2008 equivalent) 

Capital investment and operation costs in line with fossil industry refinery costs 

IEA, 2008, from 1st to 2nd generation Biofuel technologies, assuming 1€ = 1USD 

EN 

33 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
Indicative Roadmap16 

16 

 Commercial plant possible – D: demo; F: First of this kind industrial size plant  

EN 

34 

   EN 

 
 
                                                 
EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL INITIATIVE ON CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE 

Strategic objective 

To demonstrate the commercial viability of carbon 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  technologies  in  coal-fired  power  plants  by  2020-2025 
and  to  further  develop  the  technologies  to  allow  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 CO2 emissions by 2020. 

Technology objectives 

1. 

Proving the technical and economic feasibility of CCS using existing technology 

– 

– 

To test the most promising CO2 capture, transport and storage technologies at 
large scale in a fully integrated chain (called CCS chain hereafter) and optimise 
their  operational  performance,  for  demonstrating  the  technical  feasibility  and 
safety of the CCS concept. 

To reduce the costs of CO2 capture (currently estimated to be around 60-90 € 
per tonne of CO2 abated) and therefore to lower the cost of electricity produced 
by  CCS-equipped  power  plants  through  learning  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 conventional (non-CCS) power plants that 
will  enable  the  utilisation  of  CO2  capture  technologies  at  a  minimum  overall 
efficiency penalty. 

To develop new capture concepts that will pave the way for next generations of 
CO2  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  technologies  for  expanding  their  use  to  other 
carbon-intensive  sectors  such  as  the  cement,  refineries  and  the  iron  and  steel 
industries. 

To  develop  alternative  technologies  for  CO2  transport  and  storage  that  will 
enable the geographically broader deployment of CCS technologies. 

EN 

35 

   EN 

 
Actions 

1. 

Proving the technical and economic feasibility of CCS using existing technology 

– 

– 

Realisation of a large scale demonstration programme for the construction and 
operation  of  a  fleet  of  up  to  12  large-scale  first-of-a-kind  power  plants  that 
capture,  transport  and  store  the  majority  of  the  CO2  generated  during  their 
operation.  The  aim  of  the  demonstration  programme  will  be  to  test  CCS 
technologies  and  their integration on  a large scale and  demonstrate their long 
term  operational  availability  and  reliability.  The  operation  of  the  plants  will 
commence  by  2015  in  the  power  sector  to  allow  a  sufficient  track  record  by 
2020 and provide the necessary learning for the next generation of CCS plants 
to come on stream in power generation and industrial sectors soon after 2020. 
The early demonstration programme will ensure that the first CCS projects will 
not focus only on the simplest technological solutions but collectively develop 
a  coherent  portfolio  that  will  demonstrate  CCS  chains  comprising  different 
capture  (post-combustion,  pre-combustion,  oxyfuel)  and  storage  (on-  and 
offshore  saline  aquifers  and  hydrocarbon  fields)  options  using  different  fossil 
fuel types. 

Establishment  of  a  network  of  CCS  projects  representing  the  portfolio  of 
demonstration  plants,  aiming  at  a  structured  and  coordinated  knowledge 
sharing  and  the  development  of  joint  activities  concerning  public  acceptance, 
international  cooperation,  identification  of  future  R&D  priorities,  etc.  The 
network  will  facilitate  the  identification  of  best  practises  through  information 
sharing;  achieve  cost  savings  for  projects  by  undertaking  joint  activities  in 
areas  where  synergies  can  be  best  developed  and  exploited,  and  leverage  the 
projects for increasing public acceptance of CCS by using them as evidence of 
the safety of geological storage of CO2. 

2. 

Developing more efficient and cost competitive CCS technologies 

– 

Establishment of an R&D programme that will address: 

– 

– 

– 

Fossil  fuel  conversion  technologies  aimed  at  improving  power  plant 
efficiency  in  all  main  fossil  fuel  power  generation  routes  to  better 
compensate for the efficiency penalty imposed by CO2 capture. 

technologies  aimed  at 

Capture 
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  aimed  at  identifying  and  quantifying 
storage  capacities  in  Europe;  as  well  as  injection  and  monitoring 
technologies to track CO2 in underground reservoirs and to detect leaks. 
Research in CO2 transport includes improved materials for pipelines and 
terminal storage installations as well as development and testing of ship 
transport concepts. 

EN 

36 

   EN 

 
– 

Use  of  CCS  technologies  in  other  industrial  sectors  focusing  on  the 
research  for  the  application  of  capture  technologies  to  carbon-intensive 
industrial sectors such as cement, steel, refineries, etc. 

Indicative costs (2010-2020) 

Technology Objectives 

Costs (M€) 

1. Proving existing technology (additional costs for CCS only) 

8 500 - 13 000  

2. Developing more efficient and cost competitive CCS 
technologies 

Total 

2 000 - 3 500 

10 500 - 16 500 

This reflects the total sum of the required public and private investments. 

Indicative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 

•  Strategic Key Performance Indicator: Cost of CCS technology (including capture, transport 

and storage) in power plants reduced by 30-40% by 2020 

Specific KPIs 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

Average annual load factor of at least 80% in CCS power plants by 2020 

Average annual CO2 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-combustion capture, or oxyfuel) higher than 
40% by 2020. 

Net efficiency of conventional coal fired power plants higher than 50% by 2020. 

Publication of an accurate atlas of CO2 storage sites in Europe and an outline of the 
European transport infrastructure by 2020 

First  commercial  deployment  of  CCS  technologies  to  energy  intensive  industrial 
applications by 2025. 

EN 

37 

   EN 

 
Indicative Roadmap 

EN 

38 

   EN 

 
 
EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL INITIATIVE ON THE ELECTRICITY GRID 

Strategic objective 

To transmit and distribute up to 35% of electricity from dispersed and concentrated renewable 
sources  by  2020  and  a  completely  decarbonised  electricity  production  by  2050;  to  integrate 
national  networks  into  a  market-based  truly  pan-European  network,  to  guarantee  a  high 
quality  of  electricity  supply  to  all  customers  and  to  engage  them  as  active  participants  in 
energy efficiency; and to anticipate new developments such as the electrification of transport. 

Industrial sector objective 

To substantially reduce capital and operational expenditure for the operation of the networks 
while  fulfilling  the  objectives  of  a  high-quality,  low-carbon,  pan-European,  market  based 
electricity system. 

Technology objectives 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

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  equipment,  integration  of  electricity 
storage and monitoring and control systems. 

Preparing  the  long-term  evolution  of  electricity  grids  to  ensure  the  proper 
investments are made in the coming years to address the requirements of the future 
portfolio of electricity generation and consumption. 

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. 

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  development  of  the  appropriate  technologies,  and  where 
appropriate, to organise joint 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 least 1.5 million customers. All 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  controlling  the  flow  of  large  amounts  of 

EN 

39 

   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  consider  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-healing  capabilities.  These  will  increase 
power quality and reduce operational expenditure 

2. 

Long-term evolution of electricity networks 

– 

the  grid,  and  validating 

R&D  activities  to  develop  modelling  and  planning  tools  for  the  long-term 
evolution  of 
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  generation  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, 
economic 
opportunities. 

identifying 

regulatory, 

technical 

and 

4. 

Innovative market designs 

– 

R&D  activities  on  cross-cutting  issues  to  proposing  market  designs  that 
provide  incentives  for  all  actors  to  contribute  to  the  overall  efficiency,  cost-
effectiveness  and  carbon  footprint  of  the  electricity  supply  system  to  provide 
inputs to updates of regulatory frameworks to ensure their following the policy 
and technology developments. 

EN 

40 

   EN 

 
Indicative costs (2010-2020)17 

Technology Objectives 

1. Network technologies 

2. Long-term evolution 

3. Active customers 

4. Innovative market designs 

Total 

Total (M€) 

1 200 

100 

600 

100 

2 000 

This reflects the total sum of the required public and private investments. 

Indicative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

Number of customers involved (at least 1.5 million). 

Greatly  increased  capacity  to  host  RES  electricity  from  central  and  distributed 
sources, (to at least 35% of electricity consumption) including 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 

41 

   EN 

 
                                                 
Indicative Roadmap 

EN 

42 

   EN 

 
 
EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL INITIATIVE ON SUSTAINABLE NUCLEAR ENERGY 

Strategic objective 

A  vast  increase  in  the  sustainability  of  nuclear  energy  through  demonstrating  the  technical, 
industrial  and  economic  viability  of  Generation-IV  fast  neutron  reactors  (FNRs),  thereby 
ensuring that nuclear energy can remain a long-term contributor to the low carbon economy 
and building on the safety, reliability and 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 full energy potential of uranium by extracting up to 100 
times more energy than current technology from the same quantity of uranium; 

have  the  ability  to  "burn"  (i.e.  eradicate  though  nuclear  transmutation  in  the 
reactor) the "minor actinides" produced in the fuel during reactor operation by 
recycling  these  minor  actinides  in  fresh  fuel,  and  in  so  doing  significantly 
reduce  quantities,  heat  production  and  (by  factors  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  avoiding  separation  of  weapon's  grade  fissile 
material at any point during the fuel cycle; 

can  attain  levelised  electricity  and  heat  production  costs  on  a  par  with  other 
low carbon energy systems. 

2. 

The  refurbishment  and/or  design,  construction  and  operation  of  infrastructures 
needed to support the design and/or operation 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 materials and components, code validation and 
qualification, and design and validation of safety systems. 

EN 

43 

   EN 

 
3. 

A  comprehensive  programme  of  R&D  supporting  all  aspects  of  the  design, 
construction and operation of the prototype, demonstrator and support 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  Europe,  considerable  experience  in  the  various 
technology options has already been acquired, and international cooperation in basic R&D is 
on-going  as  part  of  the  Generation-IV  International  Forum  (GIF).  From  this  solid  basis 
collaborative  programmes  of  demonstration  plants  (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  energy  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  technical  performance,  demonstrators  are  the  last  pre-
commercial  step  to  demonstrate  the  performance  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 MWe, with start of operation by 2020; 

Demonstrate  the  safety  of  SFR  technologies  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  (improvements  in  operability  through 
monitoring,  inspection  and  fuel  handling,  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  final  geological  disposal  through  recycling 
and  nuclear  transformation  in  the  reactor  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 lead 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 for the construction of the demonstrator 
in the range 50-100 MWth, with start of operation by 2020; 

EN 

44 

   EN 

 
– 

– 

– 

– 

Demonstrate  the  technical  performance  and  reliability  of  the  alternative 
technology and identification of design modifications for overall performance 
improvement; 

Demonstrate  safety  and  waste  minimisation  performance  by  return  of 
experience  2020-30  and  identify  further  improvements  in  safety  design  and 
fuel cycle; 

Based on the return of experience 2020-30, prepare the design for a prototype; 

In the case of GFR, extend the range of applications of nuclear energy beyond 
the production of electricity through developing 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,  dedicated  to  uranium-plutonium  driver  and 
minor actinide bearing fuels; 

Obtain licenses for construction of the fuel 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  reactors  (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 need 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  protection,  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 

45 

   EN 

 
Indicative costs (2010-2020) 

Activities 

Costs18 

Prototype sodium fast reactor 

€2-4 billion 19, depending on the electrical power (250-600 
MWe) 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 million 20 depending 
on the need for a specific fast neutron irradiation facility 

Cross-cutting R&D programme 

Total 

€1-2 billion 21 

€ 5-10 billion 

This reflects the total sum of the required public and private investments. 

Indicative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 

1. 

Demonstration  of  the safety and security credentials  of the fast neutron reactors by 
obtaining a license to enable operation of the prototype and demonstrator reactors to 
start in 2020. 

2. 

By 2020, through the operation of the fuel fabrication workshops: 

– 

– 

production of up to several tonnes of driver fuel per year; 

development  of  high  performance  minor  actinide  bearing  fuel  with  a 
production of up to tens of kilograms per year. 

Demonstration,  through  the  operation  of  the  prototype  and  demonstrator  reactors 
starting  in  2020,  of  the  long-term  sustainability  of  nuclear  energy  by  exploiting  at 
least  50%  of  the  energy  content  of  uranium  and  significantly  reducing  the  thermal 
load and lifetime (by up to a factor of 1000) of ultimate high-level nuclear waste for 
final disposal. 

Demonstration  by  2025  that  the  levelised  cost  for  the  electricity  generation  using 
future  nuclear  reactors  is  comparable  with  costs  of  other  sources  of  low  carbon 
electricity (e.g. Generation-III levelised cost of electricity generation). 

Costs currently under detailed analysis 
Includes  basic  detailed  design,  licensing,  testing  and  qualification  of  components,  construction,  and 
start-up operations 
The cost of the research programmes performed in the experimental facilities is included in the cross-
cutting R&D action 
Equivalent to €100-200 / year over 10 years 

3. 

4. 

18 
19 

20 

21 

EN 

46 

   EN 

 
                                                 
Indicative Roadmap 

EN 

47 

   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  proving  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  require  systemic  approaches  and  organisational 
innovation,  encompassing  energy  efficiency,  low  carbon  technologies  and  the  smart 
management  of  supply  and  demand.  In  particular,  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 established under the European Economic Plan for 
Recovery.  The  local  authorities  involved  in  the  Covenant  of  Mayors  (more  than  500  cities) 
will be mobilised around this initiative 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 businesses, and citizen empowerment. 

•  To effectively spread across Europe best practices of sustainable energy concepts at local 

level, for instance through the Covenant of Majors. 

In  moving  towards  these  objectives,  local  authorities  will  propose  and  implement  holistic 
problem-solving  approaches,  integrating  the  most  appropriate  technologies  and  policy 
measures. This would involve ambitious and pioneer measures in buildings, energy networks 
and transport. 

1. 

Buildings:  

– 

New buildings with net zero energy requirements or net zero carbon emissions 
when averaged over the year by 2015, thus anticipating the requirements of the 
recast  Directive  on  the  energy  performance  of  buildings  (EPBD).  This 

22 

Reference year 1990 

EN 

48 

   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  standard  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  biomass,  solar 
applications 

thermal  and  geothermal 

Innovative  hybrid  heating  and  cooling  systems  from  biomass,  solar  thermal, 
ambient  thermal  and  geothermal  with  advanced  distributed  heat  storage 
technologies. 

– 

Highly efficient co- or tri-generation and district heating 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 appliances), lighting (in particular solid state 
lighting for street and indoor), equipment (e.g. motor systems, water systems) 

To  foster 
applications). 

local  RES  electricity  production  (especially  PV  and  wind 

3. 

Transport  

10 – 20 testing and deployment programmes for low carbon public transport 
and  individual  transport  systems,  including  smart  applications  for  ticketing, 
avoidance,  demand 
and 
intelligent 
management,  travel  information  and  communication,  freight  distribution, 
walking and cycling. 

traffic  management 

congestion 

Sustainable  mobility:  advanced  smart  public  transport,  intelligent  traffic 
management and congestion avoidance, demand management, information and 
communication, freight distribution, walking and cycling. 

– 

– 

Actions 

The Initiative will be modulated according to the cities' ambition and risk involved. Ambitious 
cities  could  receive  funding  for  technical  assistance  to  facilitate  access  to  loans  and  risk 
sharing  loans.  Pioneer  cities,  taking  much  greater  risks  through  radical  technology  and 

EN 

49 

   EN 

 
organisational  transformations,  could  in  addition  receive  funding  in  the  form  of  grants  to 
support the implementation of the proposed package of technologies and measures.  

The  Smart  Cities  initiative  will  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.).  Besides 
innovative  financing 
schemes, and refurbishment techniques will be developed and tested. 

technologies, 

Test  and  assess  through  5-10  programmes,  strategies  for  the  complete 
refurbishment  of  50%  of  all  existing  buildings  (e.g.  residential  buildings, 
public  buildings,  non-residential  buildings,  etc.).  Besides 
technologies, 
innovative  financing  schemes,  and  refurbishment  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  large  deployment  of  RES  heating  and 
cooling in cities supplying 50 % of the heat and cooling demand from RES 

5-10  demonstration  programmes  for  large  scale  RES  heating  and  cooling 
integration in energy efficient buildings in pioneer cities supplying 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 Initiatives, including priority access for local 
generation  and  renewable  electricity,  smart  metering,  storage,  and  demand 
response. European cities piloting the smart grid concept in collaboration with 
local distribution companies will be given priority. 

3. 

Transport: 

EN 

50 

   EN 

 
– 

– 

10-20  testing  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,  etc) 
the  fuel/energy  supply 
infrastructure (e.g..  

including 

Development  and  testing  programmes  focused  on  sustainable  mobility 
including advanced smart public transport, intelligent traffic management and 
congestion  avoidance, demand management, information and communication, 
freight distribution, walking and cycling. 

Indicative costs (2010-2020) 

Actions 

1. New Buildings & Refurbishment of existing buildings (for 20 
millions citizen) 

2. Energy networks (Heating and Cooling and Electricity) 

3. Transport 

This reflects the total sum of the required public and private investments. 

Indicative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 

Total (M€) 

10 000 - 12 000 

•  Overall Key Performance Indicator: participation of 25 large cities (>500 000 inhabitants) 
and  5  very  large  cities  (>1 000 000  inhabitants)  committing  to  implement  the  proposed 
demonstration,  testing  and  deployment  programmes  in  the  3  sectors  –  buildings,  energy 
networks and transport and to go beyond the 2020 EU climate and energy targets. 

Activities 

Key Performance Indicators  

•  Average RES heating cost at 15€/GJ by 2020 

•  50%  of  the  heat  and  cooling  demand  from  RES  for  10-20 

2. Energy Networks 

programmes 

•  Establishment  of  smart  grids  coupled  with  smart  building  and 
equipment,  RES  electricity  and  smart  meters.  At  least  20  pilot 
schemes by 2015 

•  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 

3. Transport 

EN 

51 

   EN 

 
Indicative roadmap 

EN 

52 

   EN 

 
 
EUROPEAN ENERGY RESEARCH ALLIANCE (EERA) 

Overall objective 

To  accelerate  the  development  of  new  energy  technologies  in  support  of  the  SET-Plan  by 
strengthening,  expanding  and  optimising  EU  energy  research  capabilities  through  the  joint 
realisation of pan-European programmes and the sharing of world-class national facilities in 
Europe,  drawing  upon  results  from  fundamental  research  in  order  to  mature  technologies  to 
the point where it can be embedded in industry-driven research. 

Technology innovation objectives 

Achieving Europe's 2020 targets 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  develop  new  energy  technologies,  through  major 
breakthroughs and to advance these through the innovation chain to the market must be better 
organised, reinforced and carried out more efficiently. The objectives of the EERA are to: 

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. 

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 well as sharing of world-class research 
facilities through the joint realisation of pan-European research programmes. 

1. 

2. 

Actions 

The  actions  of  the  EERA  comprise  two  levels:  (1)  Joint  Programming  and  (2)  linking  the 
EERA programmes to other existing 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 line 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 for 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. Over time, alignment with EU programmes 
can  be  achieved  and  the  Joint  Programmes  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:  aerodynamics,  wind  conditions,  offshore  wind  farms  and 
electrical integration. The programme will focus on optimising and up-scaling 

EN 

53 

   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  identified  as  a  starting  point  for  a  Joint 
Programme:  silicon  materials,  organic  PV,  module  technology,  transparent 
conductive  oxides  (TCO),  large  area  deposition  and  interfaces  and  education 
and training. Other topics will be added once the programme is advanced such 
as novel absorber materials for thin films, reliability of components (i.e. ageing 
models), BIPV and thin film optics. 

CCS:  Within  the  CCS  Joint  Programme,  a  distinction  is  made  between  CO2 
capture  (oxy-combustion,  pre-combustion,  post-combustion)  and  storage. 
Within  separation  techniques  for  pre-combustion  and  oxyfuel,  activities  will 
initially  focus  on  oxygen  transport,  sorbents  (including  high  temperature 
sulphur  removal),  hydrogen  separation  membranes  and  sorption-enhanced 
reforming. The activities for oxy-combustion technologies will at first instance 
focus  on  oxyfuel  boilers,  CO2  processing  for  specific  oxy-fuel,  material 
selection  for  oxy-fuel,  gas  turbine  development  and  separation  technologies, 
where process simulation and emissions from a capture unit will be handled as 
cross  cutting  issues.  Research  activities  focussing  on  storage  as  well  as  pre-
combustion are yet to be identified. 

Biofuels: Within the field of bio energy, a large number of actors are involved 
at different parts of various value chains, 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  include  (high  temperature)  thermochemistry 
(CO2 splitting), power generation and desalination, thermal storage, accelerated 
ageing and engines (e.g. dish Stirling technology). 

Geothermal energy: Main areas that will serve as starting point for the joint 
activities  are  reservoir  exploitation,  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-chromium-steels,  refractory  alloys  and 
ceramics/composites  were  identified  as  priority  areas  to  undertake  joint 
activities in the field of material development and screening, characterisation, 
fabrication,  pre-normative 
and 
experimental validation. 

and  modelling, 

simulation 

research 

– 

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  centred  on  transmission,  distribution  and 
horizontal issues. 

EN 

54 

   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  maturing  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  University  Association  (EUA),  currently 
associated  with  the  Alliance,  has  already  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 Innovation 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  deployment.  In  the  pre-commercial  phase 
where the EERA is focussing on,  cooperation with leading research institutes 
from  e.g.  the  USA  and  Japan,  can  further  accelerate  the  required  technology 
development.  EERA  has  already  started  building  up  relationships  with  some 
national laboratories in the USA and aims to further expand and strengthen this 
relationship both with research institutes from the USA as well as Japan. 

2.4  Collaboration  with  the  SET-Plan  Information  System  (SETIS).  In  setting 
the  right  research  priorities  and  monitoring  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  technologies  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  complement  the  activities  based  on  Member  State 
funding. 

EN 

55 

   EN 

 
Indicative Key Performance Indicators (KPI) 

There envisaged two set KPIs, to address the progress and success of joint programming for 
energy  technology  innovation,  the  effectiveness  of  the  EERA  links  with  industrial  driven 
research, i.e. alignment with these of the Industrial Initiatives as well as fundamental research 
and with international RTD efforts. The identification 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 

•  No. of joint programmes 

•  No.of scientists involved 

•  No.of research institutes involved 

Joint programming 

•  total budget of the programme by funding category 

•  No.of patents 

•  No.of cooperative schemes with EIT/KIC 

•  No.programmes/activities with US, Japan etc.  

EN 

56 

   EN