Minimisation of environmental, and optimisation of socio-economic impacts in the deployment, operation and decommissioning of offshore wind farms
Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
The aim is to develop and promote the use of modelling tools and objective holistic assessment metrics for realistic in-depth analysis of (cumulative) impacts of wind installations on the environment and on local communities and to integrate these in design tools for the deployment and decommissioning of offshore wind farms. It will be as well necessary to find innovative solutions to minimize the environmental impact during all stages of the life cycle of offshore wind farms but especially for the construction and decommissioning phase. An assessment framework for installations is needed with nature inclusive design options valuing ‘created habitats’ vs ‘natural habitats’.
Detailed Call Description
The actions are expected to address one of the following actions:
Action 1: develop design tools which can be used for the planning of offshore floating and fixed-bottom wind farms with the focus to minimize the overall life-cycle environmental impacts (noise, impact on seabed, visual effect, effects on marine life and other species) including floating turbines (e.g. the environmental impacts of fixing/anchoring techniques), reducing carbon footprint of the offshore wind plants across the life cycle, from construction to end of life and reduce the environmental impact in each consecutive step. The tool should make use of existing data of environmental impact studies and should be easy to customise considering different sea basin biodiversity characteristics and new available data. For that reason, a strong participation/commitment of industry players is required to ensure that inventory data from industry of the components is used in the analyses and validation of the tools. The action will deliver recommendations for implementable, simple and measurable criteria to assess at the tendering stage of future project, considering the sustainability and environmental (positive and negative) impacts of offshore wind farms.
Action 2: develop innovative and cost-effective solutions (innovative processes, planning processes, supply chains, materials for construction, ….) for all phases of the life cycle of offshore wind farms but especially for the installation, construction and decommissioning phase of offshore wind farms with the aim to reduce the environmental impact as much as possible in these stages of the life cycle of offshore wind farms.
In order to increase the integration of the design tools and the innovative solutions, it is important that consortia engage all different stakeholders like regulatory bodies, industry, governments and citizens.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
100%
Expected EU contribution per project: €5.00 million
Thematic Categories
- Environment and Climate Change
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Urban Development
Eligibility for Participation
- Businesses
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Research and Innovation Foundation
Address: 29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia, P.B. 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Telephone: +357 22205000
Fax: +357 22205001
Email: support@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/en/
Contact Persons:
Mr Christakis Theocharous
Scientific Officer A’
Telephone: +357 22 205 029
Email: ctheocharous@research.org.cy
Mr George Christou
Scientific Officer
Telephone: +357 22 205 030
Email: gchristou@research.org.cy