The programme increases its investment in tackling climate and environmental challenges in line with the European Green Deal and the Just Transition mechanism.
The maximum EU contribution for these new projects is around €32 million. Among other things, the projects will work on solutions for:
- Retrofitting coal power plants for alternative fuels
- Developing new economic strategies for coal-mining regions in transition
- Reducing emission from steel production
- Looking at ultra-low carbon steel for buildings
- Optimising steel production processes
How were the projects selected?
The projects result from the RFCS 2020 call for proposals, which closed on 15 September 2020. The European Commission received 142 proposals.
The projects were selected in a peer evaluation run by the European Commission with the support of external experts. On 9 July 2021, the European Commission adopted the decision to award the grants and the REA has already signed all the grants.
25 Research Fund for Coal and Steel projects
| Project | Overall project budget (in million EUR) |
EU contribution (in million EUR) |
|---|---|---|
| Coal: | ||
| BackCap: CO2 capture from back-up coal power plants using Ca(OH)2 | 2.19 | 1.31 |
| UCGWATERplus: Coal- and bio-based water remediation strategies | 2.39 | 1.44 |
| GreenDEALCO2: Green Deployment of E-fuels and liquids based on CO2 for closed and end-of-life coal-related assets | 2.56 | 1.54 |
| REBECCA: Retrofitting existing fluidized bed power plants for waste-derived fuels and CO2 capture | 2.76 | 1.63 |
| POTENTIALS: Synergistic potentials of end-of-life coal mines and coal-fired power plants, along with closely related neighbouring industries: update and re-adoption of territorial just transition plans | 0.79 | 0.79 |
| ATLANTIS: An interdisciplinary feasibility study on hybrid pumped-hydro power storage of excess energy in open-pit coal mines | 2.72 | 1.63 |
| Steel: | ||
| ToughSteel: Fracture toughness as a tool to address cracking problems in forming and in-service performance of AHSS. Valorisation and dissemination | 0.99 | 0.99 |
| Stir4Steel: Friction stir welding for improving joinability of high-performance steels for automotive components to boost green road mobility | 1.96 | 1.17 |
| STeELS-EM: Stabilized electrical steels for electric mobility | 1.8 | 1.08 |
| IndiWater: Independent industrial water supply by digitalization, simulation and innovative treatment technologies | 1.93 | 1.15 |
| SMARTER: Steam and gas networks revamping for the steelworks of the future | 1.84 | 1.1 |
| HatFlat: Holistic assistance for cross-process analysis and prediction of strip and plate flatness | 2.4 | 1.44 |
| DeepQuality: Use of robust deep learning methods for the automatic quality assessment of steel products | 2.02 | 1.21 |
| SmartLadle: Smart consideration of actual ladle status monitored by novel sensors for secondary metallurgy process parameters and ladle maintenance strategies | 1.49 | 0.9 |
| TOPGEAR: Gears with top in-service performance developed for hybrid and electric vehicles | 1.95 | 1.17 |
| AtHyCor: Modelling of hydrogen activity from atmospheric corrosion in ultra-high strength steels for light structure application | 1.91 | 1.14 |
| WINDUCTION: Eco-design of an alternative production route for planet gears of wind turbine gearboxes | 2.55 | 1.52 |
| STEELAR: Steel components assessment using a novel non-destructive residual stress ultrasonic technology | 2.21 | 0.99 |
| AUSTRONG: Development of new high strength austenitic stainless steels for large lightweight storage applications | 1.47 | 0.88 |
| InCSEB: Innovative ultra-low carbon building steel envelop systems with bio-based insulation | 2.49 | 1.5 |
| DREAMERS: Design research, implementation and monitoring of emerging technologies for a new generation of resilient steel buildings | 3.79 | 1.89 |
| OPTIDAMATOL: Optimisation of high damage tolerance at very high strengths by the quenching and partitioning process | 1.81 | 0.99 |
| LASTTS: Laser cutting technology for tubular structures | 2.94 | 1.76 |
| DevH2forEAF: Developing and enabling H2 burner utilization to produce liquid steel in EAF | 3.2 | 1.92 |
| FISHWALL: Fire and seismic performances of hybrid fire walls in case of single-storey industrial and commercial steel buildings | 1.37 | 0.82 |
Figures are rounded.
More information on the funded projects will be published on the RFCS website.
Apply for funding
If you are planning a research project on low-emission steelmaking or coal regions in transition, you can currently apply for EU funding under the Research Fund for Coal and Steel. The 2021 RFCS call is currently open; the deadline is 22 September 2021.
Read more about the Research Fund for Coal and Steel.
Details
- Publication date
- 27 July 2021