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Second last opportunity for Fuel Cell and Hydrogen (FCH) applications


6th February 2019 at 1:32 pm



Calls for proposals within the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking (FCH2 JU), with a deadline on the 23rd April 2019, are now open and accessible in the EC’s Participation Portal. This will be the penultimate opportunity to apply to the FCH2 JU within Horizon 2020. The budget for the FCH2 JU annual work plan amounts to €80.8 million, which is a €7.6 million increase compared to the 2018 budget.

What will be funded

This year, there are a total of 17 call topics in five main areas, so-called techno-operational objectives, that will be supported.

Techno-economic objective 1: reduce the production cost of fuel cell systems to be used in transport applications, while increasing their lifetime to levels competitive with conventional technologies FCH-01-1-2019: Demonstrating the blueprint for a zero-emission logistics ecosystem
FCH-01-2-2019: Scaling up and demonstration of a multi-MW Fuel Cell system for shipping
FCH-01-3-2019: Cyber-physical platform for hybrid Fuel Cell systems FCH-01-4-2019: Towards a better understanding of charge, mass and heat transports in new
Techno-economic objective 2: increase the electrical efficiency and the durability of the different fuel cells used for CHP and power-only production, while reducing costs, to levels competitive with conventional technologies FCH-02-3-2019: Continuous supply of green or low carbon H2 and CHP via Solid Oxide Cell-based Polygeneration
FCH-02-6-2019: New materials, architectures and manufacturing processes for Solid Oxide Cells
FCH-02-7-2019: Development of highly efficient and flexible mini CHP fuel cell system based on HTPEMFCs
FCH-02-8-2019: Enhancement of durability and reliability of stationary PEM and SOFC systems by implementation and integration of advanced diagnostic and control tools
Techno-economic objective 3: increase the energy efficiency of production of hydrogen mainly from water electrolysis and renewable sources while reducing operating and capital costs, so that the combined system of the hydrogen production and the conversion using the fuel cell system is competitive with the alternatives available in the marketplace FCH-02-1-2019: Combined electrolyser-HRS and Power-to-Gas system
FCH-02-2-2019: Multi megawatt high-temperature electrolyser for valorisation as energy vector in energy-intensive industry
FCH-02-4-2019: New Anion Exchange Membrane Electrolysers
FCH-02-6-2019: New materials, architecture
Techno-economic objective 4: demonstrate on a large scale the feasibility of using hydrogen to support integration of renewable energy sources into the energy systems, including through its use as a competitive energy storage medium for electricity produced from renewable energy sources FCH-01-5-2019: Underground storage HRS
FCH-02-1-2019: Combined electrolyser-HRS and Power-to-Gas system
FCH-02-5-2019: Systematic validation of the ability to inject hydrogen at various admixture level into high-pressure gas networks in operational conditions
FCH-03-1-2019: H2 Valley
FCH-04-3-2019: Hydrogen admixtures in natural
Techno-economic objective 5: reduce the use of the EU defined “Critical raw materials”, for example via low platinum resources, and through recycling or reducing or avoiding the use of rare earth elements FCH-02-4-2019: New Anion Exchange Membrane Electrolysers
FCH-02-6-2019: New materials, architectures

How to apply for FCH2 JU funding

The FCH2 JU website provides a range of useful information and documents that any potential applicants may wish to check out. As our FCH2 JU funded SOSLeM project is ending soon, we at accelopment are also looking into new opportunities for collaboration.

Throughout our work on SOSLeM and H-DisNet, a Horizon 2020 funded Energy project focusing on innovative thermo-chemical heating network districts, we have developed a range of tools specific to these kinds of projects. They were developed within both projects, which have led accelopment to acquire a keen understanding of the energy research sector. Our multi-disciplinary team of “energy experts”, economists and innovation specialists could further develop our set of tools and apply them to future FCH2 JU projects.

Before SOSLeM, accelopment was involved in supporting the ADEL project, which was also funded under the FCH programme. Thanks to both projects, we have FCH specific project management and dissemination experience that we would be happy to share and use in other FCH2 JU projects. Do you have a project suited for FCH2 JU, then do not hesitate to contact us. For more information on our services see here!

Networking at the EFCF

For those of you who are interested in further networking or planning projects for new calls for proposals in 2020, the European Fuel Cell Forum (EFCF) might be worth attending. For more information on this year`s programme and your registrations, please visit the conference website on https://www.efcf.com/.