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Call key data
Condition & Health Monitoring in Power Electronics (PE) - Wide Band Gap PE for the energy sector
Funding Program
Horizon Europe - Cluster 5 - Destination 3: Sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply
Call number
HORIZON-CL5-2024-D3-01-14
deadlines
Opening
12.09.2023
Deadline
16.01.2024 17:00
Funding rate
100%
Call budget
€ 13,000,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project
€ 4,000,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
short description
Projects are expected to develop R&I, methodologies and tools regarding Condition and Health Monitoring, Stress Steering and Wide Band Gap and Ultra-Wide Bandgap PE as well as demonstrate, test and validate their developed activities in at least two pilots.
Call objectives
Projects are expected to implement both the activities in (1) and the practical demonstration (2) as described below:
1. R&I, methodologies and tools involving the activities listed below. These can be developed/complemented with others pertinent to each sub-topic.
A. Condition and Health Monitoring (C&HM):
- Estimation of junction temperature Tj based on TSEPs (thermo-sensitive electrical parameters). Here especially big challenge present SiC MOSFETS and Schottky diodes because the TSEPs sensitivity is lower, non-linear and depends on the built technology. Further issues are calibration, circuit drift, influence of PWM and other.
- Development of new and evaluation/further development of already existing unconventional techniques to measure temperature and estimate degradation (such as for example, but not limited to, Kelvin connection or acoustic based methods).
- Development and evaluation of new or already existing techniques for generating the lifetime models based on big-data analysis and by utilisation of soft computing techniques.
- Combination of (big) data-driven and physics-of-failure driven approaches in C&HM.
B. Stress Steering:
- Successful business case realisation requires co-operation and communication between different partners:
- Manufacturers of power electronics components (for example to integrate sometimes-necessary sensors).
- System designer (to provide access to the data such as measured load cycles and general mission profiles).
- Companies responsible for operation and maintenance of the systems. Currently those companies are especially for offshore wind parks developing their own C&HM systems, which are operating, based on sometimes-scarce available data.
- Optimisation is possible when already initial products would be designed to obtain data/measurements needed in C&HM. For power electronics modules, the most valuable data seems to be Tj (junction temperature):
- Careful estimation of the costs of maintenance for specified applications (it seems they are currently underestimated).
- Investigation of different costs models (e.g., the final costs for C&HM can be absorbed by the producers especially when it is also responsible for maintenance, or it can be transferred to the final user whenever the final user can provide safer and more reliable service).
C. Wide Band Gap and Ultra-Wide Bandgap PE:
Improvement of WBG and UWBG semiconductors for integration in HVDC and MVDC components. Work should focus on improving wide bandgap semiconductor devices, packaging and their integration in converter submodules:
- Improved WBG and UWBG power devices with better performance metrics, e.g., lower conduction losses, higher blocking voltage, better surge current capability, higher switching frequencies and better short-circuit capability.
- Advanced control circuits for WBG and UWBG based bridges.
- Improved packages featuring high-voltage insulation, high temperature operation, robustness, and low eddy currents.
- New submodule topologies for HVDC converters and/or new converter topologies for MVDC converters with WBG and UWBG semiconductors and better performance metrics, e.g., reduced losses, higher reliability, lower volume / weight, less costs.
- Implementing WBG and UWBG semiconductor devices for DC protection devices, e.g., DC breakers.
- Improved cost efficiency of components based on WBG semiconductors.
2. Demonstration, test and validation of the activities developed in (1) (A, B and C) in at least two pilots (all activities A, B and C developed for each pilot) in different EU Member
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Expected results
Project results are expected to contribute to all the following outcomes:
a. Condition and Health Monitoring:
- Capability to anticipate failures of Power Electronics (PE) in wind farms and converters of the DC grid to prevent downtime.
- Techniques to set the equipment in limp mode to enable to withstand the stress until next maintenance.
- Demonstration of Condition and Health Monitoring (C&HM) for converters of wind turbines generators and HVDC converter stations or MVDC converters (solar energy).
b. Wide Band Gap and Ultra-Wide Bandgap PE:
- Development of new semiconductor power device technologies, in particular Wide Bandgap (WBG) and ultra-wide Bandgap (UWBG) semiconductors
- Availability of more efficient Power Electronics components for the development of new generation of inverters, converters and other power equipment in the energy sector.
- Reduced space occupancy aiming mainly at offshore applications.
- Improved cost efficiency of power devices and semiconductor fabrication processes.
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Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
Moldova (Moldova), Albania (Shqipëria), Armenia (Հայաստան), Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan), Belarus (Беларусь), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина), Faeroes (Føroyar / Færøerne), Georgia (საქართველო), Iceland (Ísland), Israel (ישראל / إِسْرَائِيل), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), Montenegro (Црна Гора), Morocco (المغرب), New Zealand (Aotearoa), North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Norway (Norge), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Tunisia (تونس /Tūnis), Türkiye, Ukraine (Україна), United Kingdom
eligible entities
Education and training institution, International organization, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Mandatory partnership
Yes
Project Partnership
To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
- the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions
- the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States
- third countries associated to Horizon Europe - see list of particpating countries
Only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:
- at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and
- at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.
Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non-associated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call topic.
A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
Specific cases:
- Affiliated entities — Affiliated entities (i.e. entities with a legal or capital link to a beneficiary which participate in the action with similar rights and obligations to the beneficiaries, but which do not sign the grant agreement and therefore do not become beneficiaries themselves) are allowed, if they are eligible for participation and funding.
- Associated partners — Associated partners (i.e. entities which participate in the action without signing the grant agreement, and without the right to charge costs or claim contributions) are allowed, subject to any conditions regarding associated partners set out in the specific call conditions.
- Entities without legal personality — Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees to protect the EU’s financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons.
- EU bodies — Legal entities created under EU law including decentralised agencies may be part of the consortium, unless provided for otherwise in their basic act.
- Joint Research Centre (‘JRC’)— Where provided for in the specific call conditions, applicants may include in their proposals the possible contribution of the JRC but the JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal. Applicants will indicate the contribution that the JRC could bring to the project based on the scope of the topic text. After the evaluation process, the JRC and the consortium selected for funding may come to an agreement on the specific terms of the participation of the JRC. If an agreement is found, the JRC may accede to the grant agreement as beneficiary requesting zero funding or participate as an associated partner, and would accede to the consortium as a member.
- Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members (e.g. European research infrastructure consortia (ERICs)) may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. However, if the action is in practice implemented by the individual members, those members should also participate (either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities, otherwise their costs will NOT be eligible.
other eligibility criteria
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 5-6 by the end of the project.
If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).
Additional information
Topics
Relevance for EU Macro-Region
EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region
UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)
Additional Information
All proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funders & Tenders Portal electronic submission system (accessible via the topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section). Paper submissions are NOT possible.
Proposals must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents, e.g. plan for the exploitation and dissemination of the results including communication activities, etc.
The application form will have two parts:
- Part A (to be filled in directly online) contains administrative information about the applicant organisations (future coordinator and beneficiaries and affiliated entities), the summarised budget for the proposal and call-specific questions;
- Part B (to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system) contains the technical description of the project.
Annexes and supporting documents will be directly available in the submission system and must be uploaded as PDF files (or other formats allowed by the system).
The limit for a full application (Part B) is 45 pages.
Call documents
HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 5, Destination 3HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 5, Destination 3(1159kB)
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