Climate change poses an imminent threat to our civilization. Prominent new technologies to fight climate change involve the earth’s underground renewable and sustainable energy resources and underground storage. However, all these technologies depend on the injection of fluids into the earth’s crust, which, in turn, can cause significant earthquakes. INJECT will solve this problem on the basis of a new, ground-breaking scientific method that will prevent human-induced seismicity and will maximize energy production and storage from renewable and sustainable natural resources. INJECT’s interdisciplinary methodology is based on an astute scientific programme that brings knowledge far beyond the current state of the art. It brings control theory and mathematics to the heart of this new challenging problem. Based on cutting-edge theoretical developments, robust controllers and observers will be designed to optimally adjust fluid injection rates, prevent induced seismic events over large regions and optimize energy production and storage. The controllers will be derived using rigorous mathematical proofs and will take account of the complexity, the heterogeneities and the various uncertainties of the underlying physical processes. INJECT’s innovative theoretical methods will be thoroughly tested through novel numerical models and original experiments. High-fidelity numerical models will account for poro-elasto-dynamics, Coulomb friction, multiphysics and reduced-order modeling, and will outpace any existing algorithms in fault mechanics, both in terms of speed and accuracy. The experimental plan will build on a novel laboratory-scale demonstrator and hybrid lab-computer testing that will be designed and constructed to experimentally validate INJECT’s new concepts. Only then will it be possible to apply INJECT’s methodology in practice and unlock the significant energy potential of the Earth, reduce carbon emissions and help save our civilization.

MAASiveTraditional value chains are facing challenges due to the fast-moving markets, customer demands, and unpredictable manufacturing and logistics. To address these challenges, Manufacturing as a Service (MaaS) is introduced as a concept that utilizes existing resources in a value network by connecting manufacturers to service providers on demand through a connected network. The MAASive project aims to develop models of value networks that enable companies to recover from unforeseen external events by connecting to new services and reconfiguring value networks utilizing internal and external manufacturing services. MAASive will provide a toolkit for industry, which will consist of a blend of existing methods and technology applied in the MaaS context, and new models and technology developed as part of the project. Four distinct aspects are addressed in the MAASive project to increase resilience in value networks: network building, impact assessment, reorchestration of networks, and value network operation. The overall aim of MAASive is to increase value network resilience by enabling manufacturers to rapidly respond to unforeseen external events or sudden changes in supply or demand, utilizing manufacturing as a service. MAASive uses an iterative approach to develop technical solutions and identify potential technology risks early on. The project is focused on creating a toolkit from a human-centered perspective and involving professionals and workers in requirement and scenario definition. The iterative approach follows three loops focusing on 1) model foundations, 2) impact simulation and scenarios, and 3) network orchestration and operation. The results of MAASive will be developed in two use case demonstrators. The results of MAASive will contribute to companies being more resilient towards external, unforeseen events, by being able to utilize services in a value network better and faster, while also increasing utilization of network resources.

The DN DENSE is addressing individual research projects and training of Doctoral Candidates (DCs) in the innovative dependable engineering of Smart Energy Systems (SESs) with the main focus on robustness as well as preventive and corrective actions under uncertainty. Within this concept, the term “Smart Energy Systems (SESs)” refers to a holistic cross-sectoral approach (e.g. electricity, heating, cooling, industry, buildings and transportation) aimed at excelling the transformation towards sustainable and achievable future energy systems. Hence, it both covers but also extends beyond the Smart Grid approach, which is mainly focused on the electricity sector. Consequently, SESs exhibit the following attributes: (i) Complex interactions on sub-system and cross-sectoral systems-of-systems levels; (ii) Cyber-physical characteristics with digital and physical network connections; (iii) Ability to operate in non-stationary, uncertain and severe environments. Dependability of complex networks, such as SESs, characterizes their ability to deliver service that can justifiably be trusted. Thus, dependability comprises system attributes, such as availability, reliability, safety, integrity and maintainability. A key requirement of dependability is the desire for providing justifiable trust in the system performance. Hence, rigorous systems engineering yielding provable performance guarantees throughout the system’s life time is already required at the design stage. This challenge is tackled in DENSE with a focus on operational robustness as well as preventive and corrective actions in SESs. As a consequence, DENSE is well-aligned with the EU Commission’s headline ambitions on the European Green Deal as well as the strive for grasping the opportunities from the digital age, while increasing social fairness and prosperity.

NEXTFLOAT aims at reducing the LCOE and increase the competitiveness of floating offshore wind (FOW) to accelerate large-scale deployment. The project will demonstrate an integrated system composed of X1’s lightweight floating platform with its proprietary PivotBuoy connection system – a novel design for offshore wind platforms that optimizes the structural design, reduces weight of the structure and greatly improves mooring and installation techniques and costs – and 2BE’s 2-bladed downwind turbine – an advanced rotor that requires less material, fewer components, reduced capital and operational costs and improved environmental benefits. The project also proposes innovations to bring cost-efficiency improvements to the dynamic cable by using aluminium as a conductor material. This innovative concept will be demonstrated in MISTRAL site in the Mediterranean Sea. The design of a 14MW fully integrated system will be developed with a strong focus on optimizing the technological solutions for deep waters and making it suitable for different EU offshore sites. In parallel, this design will take into account mass production and large-scale deployment as key elements to make floating offshore wind a competitive renewable energy source. The project will develop an industrialization roadmap for this FOW concept, in order to facilitate the mass production. Finally, NEXTFLOAT will define a commercial plan for future large-scale deployment that integrates cross-cutting aspects to ensure a sustainable replication based on the analysis of costs, life cycle assessment and socio-economic factors.

FLOATFARM aims to significantly advance the maturity and competitiveness of floating offshore wind (FOW) technology by increasing energy production, achieving significant cost reductions within the design and implementation phases, improving offshore wind value chain and supporting EU companies in this growing sector. Ultimately, FLOATFARM aims to decrease negative environmental impacts on marine life and to enhance the public acceptability of FOW, thereby accelerating the EU energy transition. To this end, a number of critical technologies have been identified as key catalysts. They apply to different conceptual scales, from individual floating offshore wind turbine level (Action 1) to farm level (Action 2) and environmental and socio-economic perspectives (Action 3). Innovations will be introduced into: 1) ROTOR TECHNOLOGY, where innovative rotor designs for improved energy capture will be explored in a co-design approach with innovative control techniques, improved floaters, and a groundbreaking generator concept; 2) MOORING AND ANCHORING, where shared mooring and innovative dynamic cabling will be investigated; 3) WIND FARM CONTROL, where novel control strategies will be exploited to increase the farm power density, and 4) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT MITIGATION, where marine noise emissions and impacts on marine species of FOW farms will be addressed, innovative artificial reefs will be pioneered and social acceptance will be studied. To ensure that effective solutions are pursued and TRL5 can be achieved, FLOATFARM adopts a holistic approach that combines innovative designs, experimental demonstration at laboratory scale, modelling with a suite of beyond state-of-the-art numerical tools, and demonstration in a unique open-sea laboratory, where a new 1:7 scale 15MW FOWT will be tested in combination with novel floaters, moorings and controls, ensuring systematic assessment and validation that are thus far unprecedented in FOWT research.