Webinar 4: Nordic Energy Solutions for the Green Transition

The second webinar is focusing on the call portal + Q/A.

To help potential applicants for the call "Nordic Energy Solutions for the Green Transition" in the Nordic Grand Solutions Programme, Nordic Energy Research has arranged four webinars to increase awareness of the call requirements, design, and rules for projects to be funded.

Four webinars as preparation

The webinars are scheduled for the following dates:

Webinar 1,10 May, at 10:00 AM (CEST) - Focus: Thematic scope

Webinar 2, 31 May, at 14:00 PM (CEST) - Focus: Building a consortium

Webinar 3, 15 June, at 14:00 PM (CEST) - Focus: Introduction to call portal (Insight)

Webinar 4, 5 September, at 14:00 PM (CEST) - Focus: Call portal - Q/A

As soon as you sign up for a webinar you will receive an email to activate your Eventbrite account. This gives you access to the registered webinar as well as recordings and presentations of previous webinars.

Aim of call

The overall aim of the call "Nordic Energy Solutions for the Green Transition" is to provide solutions for the major energy challenges faced by our societies and businesses in the green transition. As we move towards carbon neutrality, there is a need for joint Nordic research and a shared knowledge foundation to identify the best solutions to overcome obstacles and seize opportunities in the field of sustainable energy.

This first call within the Nordic Grand Solutions Programme is organized within five thematic angles: 1) Smart Energy Systems, 2) Sustainable Energy, 3) Green Transport, 4) Energy Markets, and 5) Energy & Society, which are intended to complement national R&D programs and serve the common interest of all Nordic countries.

FAQ:

Question 1:

Is the 8-25 MNOK excluding overhead/admin expenses and if so, how much overhead can a research partner included in the budget?

Answer 1:

The funded grant will include all costs in the budget as applied for, except the part claimed as covered by in-kind contributions. This means that the project’s total budget must be minimum 8,8 MNOK = 8 MNOK in granted funding and 0,8 MNOK partner contributed funding. There is no upper limit for the partner contributions.

Research performing partners are expected to apply for the actual budget they need for the tasks as outlined, and there is no set limit or percentage for overhead costs. A judgement of the budget is part of the expert evaluation. Business partners and non-research performing organizations will be able to receive funding under the de Minimis regulation.

Question 2:

Do the three partners in a project have to be formally based (employed) in three different countries?

Answers 2:

The organization is the formal partner of the consortium, and will represent the country that the organization is registered in. If a business has subsidiaries in other Nordic countries, they should choose the most relevant one for this partnership.

The nationality of a project participant is not relevant. The question is asked in the application portal for statistical purposes only.

Question 3:

What happens if I forget to upload information on one of the eligibility criteria? Can I send it by email?

Answer 3:

Most of the eligibility criteria are mandatory questions in the application portal, meaning that you cannot submit without answering the question. The quality of the answer is of course the responsibility of the applicant, so be careful with placeholder answers which you might miss to correct later.

We cannot accept information that is not submitted via the application portal.

Question 4:

The call design requires an implementation that needs to be agile. Would you explain further what you expect regarding the fast implementation?

Answer 4:

The requirement to be agile goes to the mindset behind the project design. The consortium needs to be prepared for a potential reshuffle of some planned tasks; such as redefining outreach activities if new stakeholders are identified, or if existing stakeholders prove to be difficult to engage in a positive or meaningful way; it could be that a technical ambition is suddenly challenged by an outside event, and needs to be adjusted up or down; or maybe a regulatory restraint is changed in a radical way which opens a new direction of development for the aim and scope of the project.

Question 5:

Will you apply the total funding of 75 MNOK in the first call?

Answer 5:

We plan to award the total sum in this call. However; applications will not be forwarded for funding if they fall below our evaluation criteria cut-off.

Question 6:

The call mentions five thematic angles: 1) Smart Energy Systems, 2) Sustainable Energy, 3) Green Transport, 4) Energy Markets, and 5) Energy & Society. Does this mean that the projects must cover all the five angles, or just one or some angles?

Answer 6:

A project is not expected to completely cover all five themes. We expect applicants to present the angles they choose as having primary relevance for their proposal, and then present eventual secondary angles of relevance. It is recommended to also describe the angles not covered by the proposal, whether the project will have a negative impact – or no impact at all – on those angles.

Question 7:

Will Finnish businesses be able to join a consortium, and receive funding?

Answer 7:

Yes. For this call the funds are a true common pot, and therefore the usual rules from Business Finland on funding of private companies do not apply. Note that the funding for private companies and other non-research organizations will be granted as de Minimis aid.

Question 8:

Is funding rate 100% (including 10% in-kind)?

Answer 8:

Yes, that is correct for research institutions. Other participants will be able to follow the de Minimis funding rule, and of course anybody can be self-financed.

The minimum 10% in-kind is a sum total for the partnership.

Question 9:

Can you have overheads and personnel side cost in the budget? Or does it affect the evaluation?

Answer 9:

Yes, research institutions can claim the true costs of participating in the project. The evaluation will look at the consortium’s ability to carry out the project, including a judgement on the appropriateness of the budget and the distribution of effort between the partners.