Supporting the SET-plan implementation plan for offshore WIND energy
The SETWind project supports the implementation of the SET-Plan Implementation Plan for Offshore Wind. The proposal has been developed in consultation with the Temporary Working group that authored the Implementation Plan and key stakeholder organisations including ETIPWIND, WindEurope, the EERA Joint Programme for Wind Energy, the IEA Wind TCP and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Petten.
The SETWind project will update and work with the Implementation Plan to maintain it as a dynamic reference point for offshore wind energy research and innovation; it will monitor and report on progress towards the Implementation Plan targets of 1090 million € to be invested in R&I in the offshore sector until 2030; it will strengthen policy coordination in European offshore wind energy R&I policy by supporting the work of the SET-Plan Implementation Group for Offshore Wind; and it will facilitate a breakthrough in the coordination across borders of nationally funded R&I projects.
The EU Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) was launched 10 years ago in 2008 and updated in 2015 with the communication from the European Commission entitled “Towards an Integrated SET-Plan”.
As part of the updated SET-Plan, a number of targets were defined for the different technology sectors, including offshore wind energy. In 2016, a number of Temporary Working Groups (TWGs) were established to identify how the EU, Member States and the Industry could work together to achieve the targets. The result of that effort should be a set of implementation plans for each technology. In June 2018, the Temporary Working Group for Offshore Wind Energy (TWG) delivered the SET-Plan Offshore Wind Implementation Plan (hereafter: Implementation Plan) to the SET-Plan Steering Group.
The SETWind proposal will support the implementation of the Implementation Plan. The project will support the continued work of the SET-Plan Implementation Working Group for Offshore Wind Energy and facilitate the implementation of the research and Innovation (R&I) priorities through cross-border coordination of nationally funded projects. The SETWind proposal will be executed in close collaboration with key SET-Plan stakeholder partners such as the European Technology and Innovation Platform on Wind Energy (ETIPWIND), the joint Programme for Wind Energy of the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA JP WIND), the SET-Plan secretariat and SETIS2. Furthermore, SETWind will work with the EU Joint Research Centre, IEA Wind TCP and other international organisations to monitor and report on progress and disseminate key lessons and results of the project.
The Implementation Plan defines the following two R&I targets:
Reduce the levelised cost of energy (LCoE) at final investment decision (FID) for fixed offshore wind by improvement of the performances of the entire value chain striving towards zero subsidy cost level for Europe in the long term.
Develop cost competitive integrated wind energy systems including substructures which can be used in the deeper waters (>50m) at a maximum distance of 50km from shore with a LCoE of <12ct€/kWh by 2025 and <9ct€/kWh by 2030.
To achieve this, an estimated combined investment of 1090 million EUR is needed until 2030 with a split in contributions of Member States 34%, EU 25% and Industry 41%.
Objectives
The success of SETWind in supporting the Implementation Plan should be seen in the perspective of the overall ambition of the SET-Plan, namely to accelerate the transformation of the EU energy system towards a low-carbon economy. To achieve this overall ambition of the SET-Plan, the European Commission defines five guiding principles:
SET-Plan management firmly rooted in the Energy Union.
Strengthened cooperation.
More joint actions involving member states.
Transparency, indicators and periodic reporting.
Monitoring and knowledge sharing.
SETWind will adhere to these principles in supporting the offshore wind Implementation Plan, with a particular focus on strengthened cooperation, joint actions and monitoring and knowledge sharing.
Building on the insights of the SET-Plan and the expectations to its implementation described in the Implementation Plan, SETWind will focus on four objectives:
Increase cross-border coordination of national research in wind energy
SETWind will facilitate that the R&I priorities defined in the Implementation Plan are translated into nationally (co-)funded projects coordinated across borders. Less than five of this type of cross-border coordinated projects have been successfully executed within the last decade1. In SETWind we have set the ambitious target to facilitate the successful submission of 10+ qualified proposals for cross-border projects (co-)funded by national funding agencies.
Support the development of the “rolling agenda” of R&I priorities in the Implementation Plan
The Implementation Plan identifies a range of priority R&I actions. However, it recommends a “rolling agenda” since priorities will change as the wind energy sector progresses.* To support this rolling agenda, SETWind will define and elaborate medium to long-term R&I targets for an updated rolling agenda and identify a lighthouse project requiring a wider concerted action between European stakeholders. These will feed into an updated Implementation Plan in year two of the project and function as an efficient way to maintain the stakeholders’ use of the Implementation Plan to keep it a dynamic and a relevant reference point for coordination of European offshore wind energy R&I.
Continue policy coordination between national funding agencies
The TWG will remain as an Implementation Working Group for Offshore Wind (IWG) to continue the policy coordination in offshore wind energy R&I between national funding agencies. The SETWind project will support the work of the IWG. Specifically, this will be done by offering secretarial support to the IWG, which will also form the SETWind Steering Committee.
Monitor and report on progress
Working together with the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and drawing on the analysis from the IEA Wind TCP and WindEurope, SETWind will deliver an annual report on the progress towards the R&I investment targets as foreseen in the Implementation Plan. Furthermore, SETWind will also deliver reports on the national R&I policies for offshore wind energy to support the work of the Steering Committee. SETWind will encourage the use of the EERA JP WIND database of funded wind energy projects to register existing and new projects.