RFCS-2023-CSP-Big Tickets for Steel

Topic description

ExpectedOutcome:

The European Green Deal Communication of the European Commission is the European growth strategy that aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050 and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use. It is supported by the ‘Fit for 55’ set of legislative proposals and amendments to existing EU legislation, which will help cut the EU’s net greenhouse gas emissions and reach climate neutrality.

The Communication also states that all Union actions and policies should pull together to help the Union achieve a successful and just transition towards a sustainable future.

The RFCS package adopted on 19 July 2021 is in line with the European Commission's objectives and therefore enables the fund to tackle the sectors' climate and environmental challenges. This means in particular assisting the EU's coal and steel industries to reduce their emissions, thus contributing to the European Green Deal's goals and achieving a Just Transition towards a climate neutral economy.

In addition and to strengthen the commitment for a climate neutral future for us and our next generations, on 18 May 2022 the Commission presented the REPowerEU, a plan to rapidly reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels and fast forward the green transition. In respect to steel, the REPowerEU plan highlights that around 30% of the primary steel production in the EU is expected to be decarbonised by 2030 using renewable hydrogen. On 14 September 2022, the Commission proposed the Emergency intervention to reduce electricity bills, notably by reducing electricity demand by 5% during peak hours, as a way to reduce gas use for power generation.

The Research Fund for Coal and Steel complements the activities carried out in the Member States and within the existing Union Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration activities. Therefore, the European Commission encourages complementarity and sequencing among research programmes and supports the exchange of information between the RFCS Programme and projects financed under national and other European financial instruments for research and innovation, including Horizon Europe, cohesion policy funds (in particular ERDF and JTF), the Innovation Fund and LIFE.

Reference to consolidated Council Decisions (Council Decision of 29 April 2008 2008/376/EC amended by the Council Decision (EU) 2017/955 of 29 May 2017 and Council Decision (EU) 2021/1094 of 28 June 2021).

The RFCS Research Programme (Council Decision (EU) 2021/1094) has the following research objectives for the Steel sector:

• New, sustainable and low-carbon steelmaking and finishing processes (Art. 8);
• Advanced steel grades and applications (Art. 9);
• Conservation of resources, protection of the environment and circular economy (Art. 10);
• Management of work force and working conditions (Art. 10a).

The call objectives are:

1. CO2 neutral iron ore reduction (Increasing the use of pre-reduced iron carriers);
2. Developing technologies to reduce the specific energy required to produce steel;
3. Circular economy and sector coupling solutions to meet the zero-waste goal for steelmaking;
4. Preparation of steel CO/CO2 gases for Carbon Capture Use and Storage (CCUS);
5. Process Integration (PI) in steel plants to reduce the use of fossil carbon and associated CO2 emissions.

Proposals should be in line with Council Decision (EU) 2021/1094.

Specifically

• Activities are expected to start at TRL 4-6 and achieve TRL 7-8 by the end of the project.
• Proposals should address the application of innovative technologies related to one or two of the five call objectives. If addressing two call objectives, proposals should clearly identify which Work Packages address which topic(s) of which call objective(s).
• Proposals should be in line with the chapter on ‘emerging techniques’ of the “Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document for Iron and Steel Production” to look in parallel at both decarbonisation and pollutant emissions and with the Industrial technology roadmap for low-carbon technologies in Energy Intensive Industries
• When addressing the call objectives, proposals should pay particular attention, when relevant, to what is reported in the Art. 10a of the RFCS Decision 2021/1094 and, more precisely, include activities to address potential solutions that can improve the working conditions of employees at steelmaking facilities, in particular health, safety and ergonomics in and around the workplace.
• Proposals shall be in line with the general and specific objectives listed in the Memorandum of Understanding for the European partnership on Clean Steel launched in Horizon Europe.
• Proposals need to show in the excellence part of the application form how they contribute to the multi-annual Strategic Research &Innovation Agenda (SRIA) of the Clean Steel Partnership.
• Proposals are expected to include activities related to the development and dissemination of competencies to keep pace with new near-zero-carbon steel production processes, such as digitalisation and to reflect the principle of lifelong learning.

Applicants may submit proposals for either Pilot or Demonstration projects (see Art. 15 and Art. 16 of Council Decision 2008/376/EC).

• Proposals are expected to have direct relevance to achieving the European Green Deal goals and the full decarbonisation process of the steel sector for climate neutrality.
• Proposals are expected to include an exploitation strategy outlining possible integration of the deliverables of the project (including the pilot/demonstrators) in an industrial environment.
• Proposals are expected to include a preliminary assessment of their economic viability. When relevant, activities related to economic analysis in the direction of a business case or new business models can also be mentioned.
• Activities are expected to start at TRL 4-6 and achieve TRL 7-8 by the end of the project.