[Pre-announcement] LEAP-RE Joint Call 2022 for AU-EU collaborative research and Innovation projects on Renewable Energy

State of Play and General Information

Renewable energies (RE) are of vital importance in tackling the global challenge posed by climate change and providing reliable energy access to millions of people in Europe, Africa and worldwide. More than 789 million people have no access to electricity and some 2.7 billion people worldwide still rely on the use of traditional biomass for cooking. Half of Africa’s total population, i.e. 548 million people were without access to electricity in 2018 (The Renewable Energy Transition in Africa: Powering Access, Resilience and Prosperity, IRENA, 2021).

Therefore, there is a need to increase investment in renewable energy innovation, research, human and institutional capacity. In this regard, the Long term Europe Africa Partnership on Renewable Energy (LEAP-RE) program co-funded by the European Commission (EC) under Horizon 2020 aims to increase the use of renewable energy on a well-balanced set of research, demonstration, and technology transfer projects in both continents.

The LEAP-RE program is conducted by a consortium of 83 partners from European and African countries. The whole budget of the program is around € 32 million, including € 15 million from the EC. LEAP-RE is structured in three Pillars, Pillar1, object of this pre-announcement call, aims to the implementation of transnational proposals for research, innovation and capacity building, funded by national/regional funding agencies and by the European Commission; Pillar2, a cluster of individual R&I and capacity building projects implemented by members of the consortium, and Pillar3 is in charge of the program management and strategic issues to design an AU – EU long term partnership on renewable energy.

General Information on the Call

Gathering several African and European funding agencies (members of the LEAP-RE consortium) the joint goal is the preparation and implementation of transnational joint Calls for proposals co-funded by European and African national research funding agencies, with additional EC contribution. The selected projects will focus on achieving goals of mutual benefit based on a balanced and cooperative approach. Particular attention will be given to strengthening the impact of R&I supported activities for the well-being of the society, in Europe and in Africa.

A first co-fund Call was launched in 2021 and 13 projects were selected for funding.

The total indicative budget for the 2022 Call is around € 4 million provided by funding organizations, plus €2 million from EC contribution.

Scope of the Call and priority Areas for Collaboration

The LEAP-RE Joint Call 2022 can fund basic research, applied research and experimental development projects that are 12-24 months long.

Applicants should be aware that each funding agency participating to the LEAP-RE Joint Call 2022 will apply its own rules and regulations regarding eligibility and criteria (nationality, thematic, nature of project, TRL, rate of subsidy, etc.).

The range of activities recommended for collaboration under LEAP-RE, will focus on 6 multi-annual roadmaps:

1. Assessment of Renewable Energy Sources and integration of RES in sustainable energy scenarios – Scenarios assessing the potential role of renewable energy in Europe and Africa per technology, application type with the aim to support the RE industry to prioritize and contextualize target areas of RES deployment
2. End‐of‐life and second‐life management and environmental impact of RE components – Map the component value chain, identification of key stakeholders & successful business models promote replicability scenarios of operational models and standard operating procedures in concerned regions
3. Smart stand‐alone systems (SAS) – Promote the development of RE‐SAS demonstrator(s) considering the diversity of potential local RE sources and the local effective environment
4. Smart grid (different scale) for off grid application – Development of new tools for optimizing capacity in planning and dispatching strategies based on people’s needs with the aim to reduce the energy dependence on fossil fuel and increasing the share of RES use including electricity storage solutions such as batteries, hydrogen…
5. Processes and appliances for productive uses (PRODUSE) – Improvement and Promotion of wider use of PRODUSE appliances for Cold chain and thermal tools and equipment’s (healthcare and agriculture – livestock, fisheries and farming)
6. Innovative solutions for priority domestic uses (clean cooking and cold chain) – Improving, managing and maintaining solar photovoltaic systems, cookstoves and cold chain components for clean cooking and food storage. Supporting interactions with policymaking to foster fast market uptake considering the macro socio-economic and gender impacts

Indicative Call Calendar

General Remarks about the Selection Process

To ensure an effective implementation, and a rigorous monitoring and evaluation, the LEAP-RE Joint Call 2022 will be supported by an International Review Panel : In order to evaluate the projects submitted to the Call an International Review Panel gathering independent experts proposed by funding agencies will be set up. These experts may come from countries not participating in this call.

Contact

For any question related to the Call, please contact us at the following email address: pilier1@leap-re.eu