The role of power, heating and cooling is critical to achieve the EU objective of climate neutrality by 2050. Heating and cooling represent today 46% of EU energy system, that is, more than 5700 TWh, out of which, only 18% are produced with renewable sources of heating. To exploit the geothermal for energy balancing at scale, it is essential to focus on the best use of low to medium temperature resources because Europe possesses mostly low-enthalpy resources at temperature ranging from 110oC to 170oC and they are predominantly found in sedimentary formations such as the Pannonian Basin or the Upper Rhein Graben. EGS based geothermal can be developed anywhere across the EU. Low to medium temperature geothermal field developed based on either hydrothermal resources or EGS can be technically exploited by binary or ORC plant for power generation. Flexible ORC operation to produce load following power is economically challenging. nGEL is aiming to transform a geothermal ORC plant to a flexible tri-generation plant capable of both efficiently as well as cost effectively responding to the dynamic demand of power, heating, and cooling, attributing geothermal energy as a dispatchable source to balance the power and thermal grid against the progressive integration of intermittent RES (i.e., solar, wind). This will be achieved through the integration of absorption chiller, thermal energy storage, cold thermal energy storage, heat exchangers, smart control and energy management system (EMS) with AI functionalities. EMS will schedule the production and distribution of power, heat and cooling by interacting day-ahead market, grid operator, and analysing predicted energy demand and prices. If the nGEL technology can be implemented in all of the existing ORC plants in the EU, around 215 TWht heat can be delivered to the thermal grid, which is approximately 4% of the EU current annual heat demand, which corresponds to annual economic saving (on NG import) of € 9.6 billion/year.

Today 2.5 million tonnes of composite material are in use in the wind energy sector globally. Wind turbine blades are made up of composite materials that allow lighter and longer blades with optimised aerodynamic shape, which boost the performance of wind energy. However, current wind blade composites exhibit relatively short life spans, are problematic to repair and are notoriously difficult to recycle. As we continue to build more wind farms these issues pose a major problem to achieving a truly sustainable European wind energy sector. The EOLIAN project will develop an innovative new smart wind turbine blade, manufactured from an infinitely recyclable circular platform chemistry, with in-mould electronics (recyclable sensors and heating actuators) that detect damage early before it becomes a major issue. EOLIAN is the breakthrough that will make obsolete single-use engineering resins in wind blade manufacture. Our unique blade is made using vitrimers, a new class of polymer combining the performance of thermosets with the processability and logistical benefits of thermoplastics. Vitrimer resins enable circularly recyclable composite structures (1), and the option of post-cure processing provides unprecedented manufacturing flexibility (2), but also repairability (3). These three features will provide a truly sustainable and step-change approach in how wind turbine blades are maintained, re-shaped for new applications and/or recycled in a circular economy. In the project we will validate these performance claims through the manufacture, testing and benchmarking of a smart sensor-assisted vitrimer-based composite 14m prototyped wind blade. Additionally, we will prove circular recyclability through the manufacture of 2nd generation composites with (i) recycled fibers and recycled vitrimer obtained after the chemical recycling by vacuum infusion; (ii) with composite parts produced by SMC (Sheet Mould Compound) following mechanical recycling.

SEHRENE’s new electrothermal energy storage (ETES) concept is designed to store renewable electricity (RE) and heat and to restitute it as needed. It is very energy-efficient (80-85%), is geographically independant and uses no critical raw materials. It enables 8-12 times longer storage duration than Li-ion, with LCOS of 80 – 137 €/MWh, depending on the use-case. This is lower than pumped hydro, the lowest-cost commercial electricity storage. Its lifetime of 20-30 years is 2 – 3x longer than Li-ion. A TRL4 prototype and the digital twins of 3 full use-cases will be delivered: (i) ceramics plant storing excess, on-site PV power in a micro-grid and industrial waste-heat for continuous green H2 production and self-consumption, (ii) a smart-grid, and (iii) a geothermal power plant. The ETES integrates: (i) a novel heat-pump design with a coefficient of performance of 50% the theoretical maximum, (ii) a novel thermal energy storage system with energy density of 90 kWh/m3 (+30%), containing phase-change material in a novel metallic Kelvin cells-like foam and (iii) ORC with novel operating parameters. New digital tools will optimise the energy management of the storage and facilitate investment decisions by potential end-users taking LCA and technico-economic factors into account. SEHRENE unites 5 R&D teams with top-level expertise in prototyping, physics-based modelling, characterisation and digital twins of thermo-electric systems, thermal storage and AI-based energy-management; 1 RE producer, 1 DSO, 1 ceramics company, 1 SME developing decision-support tools, and 1 SME for dissemination and communication. The exploitation plan aims to implement the solution in the first factory in 2029. SEHRENE’s market penetration will enable to capture 1% of the market by 2040 avoiding 90Mm3 of NG and 15Mt CO2/year. R&D and industrial partners project to generate 5.8M€ in revenues by 2035 from sales of heat pumps, thermal storage, ORC, licenses to R&D results and consulting services.

Currently, economies worldwide are pursuing mostly a linear model of production which leads to massive material losses, dependency on geopolitically instable states and volatile markets for primary resources. A circular economy, on the contrary, seeks to counter this approach to ?preserve the value of utilized resources and materials as long as possible, to use them as frequently as possible, and to produce as little waste as possible. European industry needs solutions to mitigate the barriers for industrial data reusability and facilitate the unlocking of value from data. Joint Industrial Data Exchange Platform is a place where industrial data is fused for interconnecting seemingly different sectors into the collaboration pipeline. It builds upon the principles of Industry 4.0, by adopting a coherent approach for the semantic communication between diverse actors aimed towards direct or indirect contribution to the EU?s climate neutrality goals of 2050. JIDEP is a landing place to any organization which has any kind of data obstacle to be addressed, on its paths towards delivering more sustainable material, product, service, or solution. Within JIDEP, built-in tools are made available for unlocking the value of the data, which can lead to the development of more sustainable solutions, technologies, and materials. JIDEP is also an optimizing continuum, covering the entire product lifecycle and steering it towards circular standards implementation at technological and regulatory levels. Finally, JIDEP is a tool equipped with resilience frameworks for growing organizational and industrial capacities to withstand supply chain disruptions in short-, medium- and long-term clauses. As such, JIDEP ingests industrial data and produces sustainability, resilience, and circularity artifacts for its participants.

In the face of increasing global competition and Europe's urgent need for energy independence, renewable energy is becoming the driving force of the future. Offshore wind energy is poised to lead this transition, particularly in deep waters where consistent winds and abundant space offer unparalleled potential. However, current floating wind solutions simply adapt horizontal-axis wind turbines from onshore and fixed-bottom offshore designs, a method that fails to fully optimize efficiency for floating environments The VERTI-GO project introduces an innovative floating vertical-axis wind turbine, specifically designed for offshore conditions from its inception. This technology offers key advantages over the current state-of-the-art floating wind solutions: - Simplified maintenance – The turbine eliminates the need for costly and time-consuming transport to shore for major repairs, reducing downtime. - Integrated design – By merging the tower and floater into a single structure, manufacturing and assembly processes are streamlined. - Lower CAPEX – The turbine’s lower center of gravity enables the use of a smaller spar floater, reducing material requirements and overall costs. Having already reached TRL5 with a 30kW demonstrator, the VERTI-GO project aims to scale up the technology to a 2MW floating wind demonstrator, operating in real conditions for 15 months. To achieve this, the project brings together key actors from across the offshore wind value chain, collaborating in three structured phases: planning and design, procurement, and operation. Given that the projected €15M funding is not sufficient for full deployment, the project will develop a comprehensive external funding strategy, integrating both public and private investment sources. End-user partners and additional contributors will be engaged to explore viable financing solutions. A go/no-go decision will be taken based on the outcomes of the external funding plan, planning phase, and feasibility