PowerUp NetZero Open Call

Objectif

This open call is aimed at supporting the adoption and advancement of Net-Zero technologies, fostering innovation in products, processes, and services, and promoting sustainable growth strategies. By participating, SMEs will be able to scale up their solutions, improve resource efficiency, and increase their resilience in an evolving green and digital market.

The PowerUp NetZero OPEN CALL FOR INNOVATION PROJECTS provides financial support for SMEs tackling specific challenges related to the Net-Zero Technologies adoption and improvements. The Call is divided in 2 strands:
• Strand A: Topics and challenges related to the 5 NZTs.
• Strand B: Challenges launched by the City of Torino

Critères d'éligibilité

Applicants must be Consortia of SMEs (also including start-ups provided they are SMEs) established in an EU Member State or in a country participating in the Single Market Programme (SMP) at the moment of the call launching date.

Technologies clés

For the purpose of this call, each consortium must propose an application tackling only one of the 2 strands and at least one of the challenges within them.

Strand A: Topics and challenges related to the 5 NZTs.
1 Waste management of solar panels and batteries
1.1. Waste management approaches
1.2. End-of-life management
1.3. 2nd life strategies
2 Materials and critical raw materials concerns
2.1. innovative materials to enhance performance and applicability of solar panels
2.2. battery chemistries as an alternative to Li-ion
2.3. alternative materials to substitute the critical ones*
3 Storage alternatives to batteries
3.1. innovative storage alternatives to batteries.
3.2. solutions to improve grid stability and flexibility
4 Digital solutions for PowerUp NetZero NZT
4.1. monitoring solutions to improve accuracy, scalability, cost-efficiency
4.2. predictive maintenance solutions
4.3. Open Battery Management Systems (BMS)
5 Value chain efficiency 5.1. improve efficiency of hydrogen value chain.
5.2. improve efficiency of Sustainable biofuels value chain.
5.3. improve efficiency of CO2 value chain.
6 CO2 and hydrogen coupling
6.1. Technologies to improve efficiency and scaling up of coupling CO2 with hydrogen
7 Carbon capture technologies
7.1. capture technologies for small-scale emitters
7.2. Direct Air Carbon Capture (DACC)

Strand B: Challenges launched by the City of Torino
B.1. Systems capable of capturing, absorbing, or transforming greenhouse gas emissions.
B.2. Solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the urban mobility sector. Ensuring a link to batteries, hydrogen, and solar panel integration, etc.
B.3. Digital solutions for predictive analysis; simulation of evolving scenarios; urban and environmental planning; real-time monitoring during implementation.

Typologie de consortium

The financial contribution per project proposal ranges from a minimum of EUR 80.000,00 to a maximum of EUR 120.000,00.
Moreover, beneficiaries must ensure a minimum 20% co funding rate of the total budget of the supported activity.

All activities financed by this call must be linked to Net-Zero technologies. Funded activities may last up to 10 months from the signature of the Grant agreement, and payments will be linked to reporting.

The call for innovation projects targets companies working together to implement:
- PoC or testing of new / improved environmentally friendly products
- net-zero solutions and services.
- pilot /demonstration actions.

Funded activities could address technical risks associated with the demonstration of innovative technologies and solutions, such as optimising technology processes and operational parameters and/or improving the characteristics of their products/solutions. Innovation projects should demonstrate an innovative net-zero technology or solution in an operational or in a Virtual & Industrially Relevant environment (TRL 6-7) but are not necessarily expected yet to reach large scale demonstration or commercial production.