Duration: March 2016  – February 2019 (36 month)

Funding: Interreg (Baltic sea Region)

Budget: Total 3 000 000 EUR

Summary:

The project accelerates the market uptake of Advanced Power Electronics (Advanced PE) by companies, especially SMEs, in the BSR for the efficient conversion, transmission and consumption of energy.

The novel technologies behind Advanced PE allow more than 50% of energy savings by enabling the efficient control and conversion of electrical power and the reduction of energy losses in all stages of the energy supply chain. The corresponding market, which is expected to grow annually by 7.4% from 20142020, is driven by the demand for an increase in energy efficiency to enable renewable energy production, efficient energy transmission and intelligent consumption (e.g., within emobility and smart buildings). Thus the novel technologies foster the transition towards green growth and green society.

The market uptake of Advanced PE is challenged by technical and economic barriers as well as knowledge gaps which are difficult to be overcome by companies from the energy supply chain in the Baltic Sea region. As a result these companies tend to choose conservative technology management and R&I strategies with regard to Advanced PE. At the same time innovative startups and SMEs from component and element level to system integrators – need to accelerate the innovation cycle and market acceptance of the energy efficient novel technology.

The project aims to demonstrate solutions to overcome these barriers faster and to increase the capacity of companies to adopt their business and R&I strategies to the potentials of Advanced PE. The project provides a transnational collaboration platform for research institutions and companies especially innovative startups and SMEs to transfer knowledge and build up R&I alliances across borders. The partners demonstrante the technical feasibility, reliability and costefficiency of the novel technology and strengthen the industry’s confidence in Advanced PE. The transnational approach creates a critical mass of expertise and collaboration for the still premature market for Advanced PE.

The project involves widely BSR companies in the development of a technology and product roadmap enabling them to define their technology and business strategies (e.g., adequate technology, timing of investments). The project carries out three demonstration pilots in the market sectors renewable energies, emobility and smart buildings with 8 companies and 7 research institutions. In addition the research partners consult 14 BSR companies supporting their R&I strategy development. All project results will be spread across the BSR via dedicated technology marketing measures, thus advancing the BSR capacities in the enabling technology.

The project obtains support from the STRING partnership contributing to the green growth strategy (Letter of Support). KIC InnoEnergy as Europe’s largest publicprivate innovation partnership focused on climate change, states strong interest to collaborate with the project, too (Letter of Support).