Manufacturing & Supply Chain

The Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland (SEAI) has announced a new round of Government funding for energy research and innovation. The call will support innovative energy Research Development and Demonstration (RD&D) projects which will help accelerate Ireland’s transition to a clean and secure energy future. Government support comes, in the form of a substantially increased budget and the SEAI expects to invest almost €20 million, in what is now a multi-year pipeline of energy RD&D projects. The deadline for applications for the call is Monday the 16th of May 2022.

More than 150 projects were successful under previous funding calls to drive solutions in the areas of wind energy, bioenergy, energy systems integration, energy efficiency, energy markets, smart grids, transportation, energy policy, community engagement and geothermal energy. Those projects supported in the 2021 call include research across indoor air quality, remote inspection of wind turbines, electric vehicle battery reuse and energy efficiency of servers and data centres.

Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan T.D. said: “Addressing Ireland’s energy and climate ambitions will require joined-up thinking from all sectors and disciplines, as well as collaborative and transdisciplinary approaches. Today’s call for energy research and innovation is crucial in the context of Ireland’s clean energy transition and the current international energy supply issues. Ireland urgently needs to accelerate our efforts to decarbonise our economy as quickly as possible, and research and innovation will play a central role.”

Margie McCarthy, Director of Research and Policy Insight of SEAI, said: “Energy research and innovation are crucial components to achieving a low carbon economy for Ireland. SEAI is committed to paving the way for the breakthrough solutions to clean and secure energy, and this RD&D funding will be instrumental to Ireland achieving 2030 targets and beyond. There is huge talent in the Irish Energy Research ecosystem, and this is a call to our national experts to find Irish solutions for the Irish context. This year’s call strives for increased emphasis on impact, co-production, diverse participation and fellowships to support SEAI’s mission.”

Recognising that accelerating transformative research to deliver Ireland’s clean energy and climate ambitions will require enhanced collaboration across a wide range of stakeholders. The 2022 call is open for applications from all research disciplines, and from public and private sector organisations, either applying individually or as part of a consortium.

As before, this year’s call will include both an open strand and a thematic strand. The thematic strand includes research topics co-developed by SEAI in consultation with a range of government departments and agencies, whereas the open strand welcomes applicants to pitch proposals that they feel could achieve the overall programme objectives in support of Ireland’s clean energy transition. In 2021, approximately 50% of successful applications were submitted to the Open Strand. SEAI is pleased to announce that the 2022 call involves co-funding partnerships with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Department of Transport, ESB Networks, Geological Survey Ireland and the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

Further information is available on the SEAI National Energy RD&D Funding Programme webpage.