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Found 20 results.

Biogas-fired Combined Hybrid Heat and Power Plant (Bio-HyPP)

Das Projekt "Biogas-fired Combined Hybrid Heat and Power Plant (Bio-HyPP)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR) durchgeführt. To reach the goals of improving the efficiency of CHP systems while simultaneously widening the biomass feedstock base as well as increasing operational flexibility, the project aims to develop a full scale technology demonstrator of a hybrid power plant using biogas as main fuel in lab environment. A combined hybrid heat and power plant combines a micro gas turbine (MGT) and a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). The focus of the technology demonstration plant is to prove the functional capability of the plant concept, followed by detailed characterization and optimization of the integration of both subsystems. The main objective is to move the technology beyond the state of the art to TRL 4. Electrical efficiencies of more than 60% and total thermal efficiencies of more than 90% are intended to reach at base load conditions. An operational flexibility ranging from 25% to 100% electric power should be achieved. The emission levels should not exceed 10 ppm NOx and 20 ppm CO (at 15% vol. residual oxygen). The system should allow the use of biogas with methane contents varying from 40-75%, thus covering the biogas qualities from the fermentation of the entire biomass feedstock range. To achieve the objectives the subsystems MGT and SOFC including their subcomponents have to be adjusted and optimized by a multidisciplinary design approach using numerical and experimental measures to ensure a proper balance of plant. In addition an integrated control system has to be developed and implemented to achieve a reliable operation of the coupled subsystems. A detailed analysis of different European markets, economic and technical constraints in terms of biogas production potentials will clarify the regional suitable sizes and attractive performance conditions of the power plant system. To identify cost reduction potentials a thermo-economic analysis will be performed. Here, an internal rate of return (IRR) of the system of higher than 15% should be achieved over a 20 years.

PV FINANCING

Das Projekt "PV FINANCING" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft e.V. BSW-Solar durchgeführt. Feed-in tariffs (FITs) have been the fuel for successful solar PV growth stories in basically every one of today's large solar markets. First in Europe, now in China and Japan. The US is the only exception - backed by tax credits and net-metering, leasing has become a key means of financing residential solar systems there. With many European countries phasing out FITs, the simplicity of selling solar power will be gone; and without safe and fair returns, real estate and homeowners will not invest in PV anymore. In post-FIT times, solar companies and/or electric utilities in partnership with financial institutions will have to come up with new business models and financing schemes for PV investors in order to continue the success story of the FIT era. The German Solar Industry Association as project coordinator is driven by the mission to successfully evolve those business and financing models, to disseminate them among stakeholders and to shape the necessary policy framework and to remove barriers that prevent those models from realization. Consequently, the goal of PV Financing is to help stakeholders from specific application segments with the implementation of PV projects based on new PV business models while applying innovative equity and debt financing schemes. The availability of financing for PV projects based on the new business models shall be increased and the transaction costs shall be decreased by educating investors, commercial banks and insurance companies on the PV business models and their risks.

Super high efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin-film solar cells approaching 25% (Sharc25)

Das Projekt "Super high efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin-film solar cells approaching 25% (Sharc25)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg durchgeführt. Prime objective of the Sharc25 project is to develop super-high efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells for next generation of cost-beneficial solar module technology with the world leading expertise establishing the new benchmarks of global excellence. The project partners ZSW and EMPA hold the current CIGS solar cell efficiency world records of 21.7% on glass and 20.4% on polymer film, achieved by using high (approximately 650 centigrade) and low (approximately 450 centigrade) temperature CIGS deposition, respectively. Both have developed new processing concepts which open new prospects for further breakthroughs leading to paradigm shift for increased performance of solar cells approaching to the practically achievable theoretical limits. In this way the costs for industrial solar module production less than 0.35 Euro/Wp and installed systems less than 0.60 Euro/Wp can be achieved, along with a reduced Capex less than 0.75 Euro/Wp for factories of greater than 100 MW production capacity, with further scopes for cost reductions through production ramp-up. In this project the performance of single junction CIGS solar cells will be pushed from approximately 21% towards 25% by a consortium with multidisciplinary expertise. The key limiting factors in state-of-the-art CIGS solar cells are the non-radiative recombination and light absorption losses. Novel concepts will overcome major recombination losses: combinations of increased carrier life time in CIGS with emitter point contacts, engineered grain boundaries for active carrier collection, shift of absorber energy bandgap, and bandgap grading for increased tolerance of potential fluctuations. Innovative approaches will be applied for light management to increase the optical path length in the CIGS absorber and combine novel emitter, front contact, and anti-reflection concepts for higher photon injection into the absorber. Concepts of enhanced cell efficiency will be applied for achieving sub-module efficiencies of greater than 20% and industrial implementation strategies will be proposed for the benefit of European industries.

Market uptake of small modular renewable district heating and cooling grids for communities (CoolHeating)

Das Projekt "Market uptake of small modular renewable district heating and cooling grids for communities (CoolHeating)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von WIP, Wirtschaft und Infrastruktur GmbH & Co Planungs-KG durchgeführt. The objective of CoolHeating is to support the implementation of 'small modular renewable heating and cooling grids' for communities in South-Eastern Europe. This will be achieved through knowledge transfer and mutual activities of partners in countries where renewable district heating and cooling examples exist (Austria, Denmark, Germany) and in countries which have less development (Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzigowina). Core activities, besides techno-economical assessments, include measures to stimulate the interest of communities and citizens to set-up renewable district heating systems as well as the capacity building about financing and business models. The outcome will be the initiation of new small renewable district heating and cooling grids in 5 target communities up to the investment stage. These lighthouse projects will have a long-term impact on the development of 'small modular renewable heating and cooling grids' at the national levels in the target countries.

Novel Productivity Enhancement Concept for a Sustainable Utilization of a Geothermal Resource (SURE)

Das Projekt "Novel Productivity Enhancement Concept for a Sustainable Utilization of a Geothermal Resource (SURE)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum durchgeführt. Within the project SURE (Novel Productivity Enhancement Concept for a Sustainable Utilization of a Geothermal Resource) the radial water jet drilling (RJD) technology will be investigated and tested as a method to increase inflow into insufficiently producing geothermal wells. Radial water jet drilling uses the power of a focused jet of fluids, applied to a rock through a coil inserted in an existing well. This technology is likely to provide much better control of the enhanced flow paths around a geothermal well and does not involve the amount of fluid as conventional hydraulic fracturing, reducing the risk of induced seismicity considerably. RJD shall be applied to access and connect high permeable zones within geothermal reservoirs to the main well with a higher degree of control compared to conventional stimulation technologies. A characterization of the parameters controlling the jet-ability of different rock formations, however, has not been performed for the equipment applied so far. SURE will investigate the technology for deep geothermal reservoir rocks at different geological settings such as deep sedimentary basins or magmatic regions at the micro-, meso- and macro-scale. Laboratory tests will include the determination of parameters such as elastic constants, permeability and cohesion of the rocks as well as jetting experiments into large samples in. Samples will be investigated in 3D with micro CT scanners and with standard microscopy approaches. In addition, advanced modelling will help understand the actual mechanism leading to the rock destruction at the tip of the water jet. Last but not least, experimental and modelling results will be validated by controlled experiments in a quarry (mesoscale) which allows precise monitoring of the process, and in two different geothermal wells. The consortium includes the only company in Europe offering the radial drilling service.

Riblet-Surfaces for Improvement of Efficiency of Wind Turbines (Riblet4Wind)

Das Projekt "Riblet-Surfaces for Improvement of Efficiency of Wind Turbines (Riblet4Wind)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung eingetragener Verein durchgeführt. The main objective of Riblet4Wind is the transfer of a technology that has already demonstrated its capacity for increasing the energy efficiency in the aeronautics sector, to the wind energy industry. Application of functional coatings with riblet structure will improve the drag to lift ratio of rotor blades significantly. Wind tunnel experiments have proven the capability of this riblet-coating technology to increase the efficiency of wind turbines by up to 6%. This direct effect will allow gaining the same amount of electrical energy with smaller rotor blades. Indirect effects will increase the benefit to approximately more than 10%: - The improved drag to lift ratio will allow operation at lower wind speeds. The earlier cut-in of the WTG will improve the facility to balance in the electrical grid system. - The riblet structure improves the stall and turbulence behaviour of the rotor blades thus allowing also operation at higher wind speeds and/or operation in less optimum wind conditions, e.g. changing wind directions or gusts. - The improved drag to lift ratio will reveal design options due to changes of the design loads. - The riblet structure will also result in a substantial reduction of noise emissions. It is expected that the interaction of direct and indirect effects will contribute significantly to the targets of the European Wind Energy Technology Platform (TPWind) as declared in the new Strategic Research Agenda / Market Deployment Strategy (SRA / MDS) : a reduction of levelised costs of energy (LCoE) by 20% (onshore) respectively 50% (offshore) until 2028 (LCoE reference 2008). Beyond the focus of the topic H2020-LCE3-2014 the riblet-paint technology can also be applied on existing rotor blades, thus supporting retrofitting of existing wind turbines and maximising the benefit. In total Riblet4Wind aims at demonstrating the successful transfer of the riblet-coating technology and the semi-quantitative assessment of the direct and indirect effects.

Minimized water consumption in CSP plants (MinWaterCSP)

Das Projekt "Minimized water consumption in CSP plants (MinWaterCSP)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Kelvion Holding GmbH durchgeführt. MinWaterCSP addresses the challenge of significantly reducing the water consumption of CSP plants while maintaining their overall efficiency. Its objective is to reduce evaporation losses and mirror cleaning water usage for small- and large-scale CSP plants through a holistic combination of next generation technologies in the fields of i) hybrid dry/wet cooling systems ii) wire structure heat transfer surfaces iii) axial flow fans iv) mirror cleaning techniques and v) optimized water management. MinWaterCSP will reduce water evaporation losses by 75 to 95% compared to wet cooling systems. It aims to increase the net efficiency of the steam Rankine cycle by 2%, or alternatively reduce the capital cost of a dry-cooling system by 25%, while maintaining cycle efficiency. To complement this, mirror cleaning water consumption will be reduced by 25% through an improved mirror cleaning process for parabolic trough collectors, the development of a cleaning robot for linear Fresnel collectors and a reduced number of cleaning cycles enabled by an enhanced monitoring of the reflectance of the mirrors. Also, comprehensive water management plans for CSP plants in various locations will be developed and combined with plant performance simulations to maximize the impact of the achieved design improvements in a complete system context. Zero liquid discharge and the option of making use of solar energy or low grade waste heat for water treatment will be considered. MinWaterCSP will improve the cost-competitiveness of CSP. This will make CSP more attractive for investment purposes and drives growth in the CSP plant business as well as job creation at European companies which provide technologically advanced CSP plant components. In addition, by making CSP technology more attractive MinWaterCSP contributes to solve the global climate challenge by reducing carbon-dioxide emissions and increasing energy generation from renewable resources.

Unleashing the potential of Crowdfunding for Financing Renewable Energy Projects (CrowdFundRES)

Das Projekt "Unleashing the potential of Crowdfunding for Financing Renewable Energy Projects (CrowdFundRES)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von WIP, Wirtschaft und Infrastruktur GmbH & Co Planungs-KG durchgeführt. We are currently seeing a deceleration of renewable energy growth in Europe. This is partly attributed to the challenges for financing renewable energy projects. Reduced access to conventional financing options over the past few years has triggered innovative financing schemes to emerge, with crowdfunding attracting a lot of attention. CrowdFundRES recognises the vast potential of crowdfunding for financing renewable energy projects. The project has been developed for and in cooperation with the three target groups: 1) Renewable energy project developers whose access to financing is getting more challenging. 2) The part of the public that has an interest in investing even very small amounts of their savings in renewable energy projects. 3) Crowdfunding platforms who act as intermediaries facilitating the financial transaction between the public and the project developers. The overall objective of the proposed project is to contribute to the acceleration of the renewable energy growth in Europe by unleashing the potential of crowdfunding for financing renewable energy projects. In order to achieve this, the work has been structured for achieving the following objectives: 1. Gain a deep understanding of the public's perception of crowdfunding. 2. Analyse the challenges faced by the application of crowdfunding for renewable energy projects in Europe. 3. Develop guidelines that support easier, more effective and wider accepted practices in crowdfunding renewable energy projects. 4. Apply the guidelines and review them based on practical experience. 5. Improve the market and regulatory framework. 6. Promote the crowdfunding concept and its advantages among those who could contribute or raise funds.

Advanced policies and market support measures for mobilizing solar district heating investments in European target regions and countries (SDHp2m)

Das Projekt "Advanced policies and market support measures for mobilizing solar district heating investments in European target regions and countries (SDHp2m)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Steinbeis Innovation gGmbH, Solites - Forschungsinstitut für solare und zukunftsfähige thermische Energiesysteme durchgeführt. SDHp2m stands for Solar District Heating (SDH) and actions from Policy to Market. The project addresses market uptake challenges for a wider use of district heating and cooling systems (DHC) with high shares of RES, specifically the action focuses on the use of large-scale solar thermal plants combined with other RES in DHC systems. The key approach of the project is to develop, improve and implement in 9 participating EU regions advanced policies and support measures for SDH. In 3 focus regions Thuringia (DE), Styria (AT) and Rhone-Alpes (FR) the regulating regional authorities are participating as project partners to ensure a strong implementation capacity within the project. In 6 follower regions from BG, DE, IT, PL, SE the regulating authorities are engaged through letters of commitment. The project activities aim at a direct mobilization of investments in SDH and hence a significant market rollout. The project work program in the participating regions follows a process including 1) strategy and action planning based on a survey, best practices and stakeholder consultation 2) an implementation phase starting at an early project stage and 3) efficient dissemination of the project results at national and international level. Adressed market uptake challenges are: Improved RES DHC policy, better access to plant financing and business models, sustained public acceptance and bridging the gap between policy and market through market support and capacity building. Denmark and Sweden reached already today a high share of RES in DHC and shall be used as a role model for this project. The direct expected outcome and impact of SDHp2m is estimated to an installed or planned new RES DHC capacity and new SDH capacity directly triggered by the project until project end corresponding to a total investment of 350 Mio. € and leading to 1 420 GWh RES heat and cold production per year. A multiple effect is expected in the period after the project and in further EU regions.

Renewable residential heating with fast pyrolysis bio-oil (Residue2Heat)

Das Projekt "Renewable residential heating with fast pyrolysis bio-oil (Residue2Heat)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von RWTH Aachen University, Fachgruppe Metallurgie und Werkstofftechnik, Institut für Industrieofenbau und Wärmetechnik im Hüttenwesen, Lehrstuhl für Hochtemperaturtechnik durchgeführt. The overall objective of Residue2Heat is to enable the utilization of sustainable, ash rich biomass and residues in residential heating applications (20-200 kWth) to provide sustainable heat at a competitive price. In this concept, various 2nd generation agricultural, and forestry residue streams are converted into a liquid energy carrier near the biomass origin at an economic viable scale of 15-30 MWth using the fast pyrolysis process. Subsequently, the fast pyrolysis bio-oil (FPBO) is distributed to a large number of residential end-users. The FPBO should fulfill at least the draft CEN-specification for replacement of domestic heating oil and comply with REACH regulation. Additional quality control aspects for this application include the removal of extractives and solids from the FPBO. Ash is recovered from the fast pyrolysis process as a separate stream, and recycling and/or re-use will be evaluated in detail. Existing high efficient, condensing boilers are used as starting point in the project, as well as a proven, low emission blue-flame type burner. Within Residue2Heat technical development work is performed on the modification of such systems to enable FPBO as fuel. The emission control and energy efficiency of the heating systems are optimized by dedicated modeling of FPBO atomization and combustion kinetics, supported by single droplet combustion tests and spray characterization. This route benefits from the flexible nature of the fast pyrolysis process, allowing the use of various lignocellulosic biomass streams, but also by using modified residential heating systems for which manufacturing capabilities, market development and product distribution are already in place. Dedicated tasks are included to assess the environmental and social impacts, risks analysis and public acceptance. Additionally, business and market assessment activities are performed including specific issues on health and safety relevant to FPBO-fuelled residential boilers.

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