SEAI National Energy Research Funding Programme
The SEAI National Energy Research Development and Demonstration (RD&D) Funding Programme invests in innovative energy RD&D projects which contribute to Ireland's transition to a clean and secure energy future.
2022 SEAI National Energy Research Funding Call Closed
The 2022 SEAI National Energy RD&D Funding Call is now closed for applications.
Key Programme Documents| Call Activity | Date | Further details |
|---|---|---|
| Call Open | April 6th 2022 | See Call Document |
| Webinar | April 20th 2022 11-12noon | View Slides |
| Application Deadline | May 16th 2022, Noon, 12pm (Irish Standard Time) | Call Now Closed |
| Stage 1: Eligibility | June 2022 | |
| Stage 2: Evaluation and Clarification | Q2-Q3 2022 | |
| Award Notification | Q4 2022 |
SEAI National Energy RD&D Funding Programme Objectives
-
Accelerate
Accelerate the development and deployment in the Irish marketplace of competitive energy-related products, processes and systems -
Support
Support solutions that enable technical and other barriers to market uptake to be overcome -
Grow
Grow Ireland's national capacity to access, develop and apply international class RD&D -
Inform
Provide guidance and support to policy makers and public bodies through results, outcomes and learning from supported energy projects
Co-funding partnerships in 2022
SEAI is pleased to announce that the 2022 SEAI National Energy RD&D Call involves co-funding partnerships with the following organisations: the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the Department of Transport, ESB Networks and Geological Survey Ireland.
Programme documents
These are key. Please familiarise yourself with these if you are considering applying.
- 2022 SEAI RD&D Call Document
- 2022 SEAI RD&D Budget Policy
- Privacy Notice
- Frequently Asked Questions
- 2022 Topic Strand Overview
Supporting our climate targets
The programme supports innovative and targeted actions to assist in the delivery of the following:
What projects are eligible?
Accelerating transformative research to deliver Ireland’s clean energy and climate ambitions will require enhanced collaboration across a wide range of stakeholders and actors.
Diverse approaches and engaged research methods will be required, which may include multidisciplinary, transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary research approaches.
The SEAI National Energy RD&D Funding Programme welcomes research proposals from all research disciplines, as well as collaborative projects involving multiple organisations subject to alignment with the overall programme objectives.
Is this the right call for you?
What is a research call and call document?
A research call is a "call for research project proposals" to address certain objectives. It is open for a set period of time. The 'Call Document' provides information on applying and the assessment process.
See the Call Document for more informationWho can receive funding?
Open to public and private sector organisations based in the Republic of Ireland, applying individually or as part of a consortium. Depending on the organisations applying and the research activities, maximum eligible funding rates vary from 25% to 100%.
See the Budget PolicyWhat is a research project?
A project is where all participants are collaborating to common aims and objectives and can range from small (up to 1 year) to large scale (up to 4 years). Browse the database for more examples of energy research projects.
National Energy Research DatabaseWhat does a project team look like?
Organisations can apply individually or as part of a larger consortium. A project consortium consists of a lead applicant, partner applicant(s) and/or collaborator(s).Research proposals from all research disciplines, as well as collaborative projects involving multiple organisations subject to alignment with the overall programme objectives.
What projects are funded?
Research and innovation projects that may not become a reality without government support. This competitive call supports innovative energy research and innovation projects that align with the SEAI RD&D objectives.
See previously funded projectsWhat is the open strand?
There is an opportunity for applicants to submit proposals to either a topic strand or an open strand. Within the open strand, applicants may propose projects within SEAI’s remit which directly address the aims and objectives of the SEAI RD&D Funding Programme Call. In the 2021 Call, approximately 50% of successful applicants were submitted to the Open Strand.
What is the thematic topic strand?
There is an opportunity for applicants to submit proposals to either a topic strand or an open strand. Within the topic strand of the Call Document, areas have been identified as priority areas for research. It provides an opportunity for applicants to submit proposals that address the requirements of the topics outlined within the Call document. Nine topic areas have been identified as potential co-fund opportunities.
See Call Document Annex 1How to apply?
Take time and read the call document carefully, build your consortium, fill in the application form and submit via PEP (Project Evaluation Portal) with all documentation required by the deadline.
See online submission guidance- Transport
Carbon neutral shipping, behaviour change interventions (Cofunded by DoT) and EV charging
- Energy Sector Development
Equality, diversity and inclusion, citizen investments and research impact/innovation frameworks
- Geothermal Energy
Economic evaluation and investigation for industrial applications. (Co-funded with GSI)
- Bioenergy
CO2 from biomass combustion and bioeconomy renewable energy. (Co-funded by DAFM)
- Wind Energy
Airborne wind energy, green hydrogen, floating offshore wind development
- Buildings
Compact urban growth and solar PV optimisation
- Ecological Preservation
Knowledge gaps in bird conservation (Co-funded with NPWS) and hen harrier adaptive management for wind farms
- Electricity
Smart controllers, dispatch down (co-funded by ESBN) and grid forming inverters
- Decarbonising Heat
District heating and high grade heat pumps for industrial use
2022 RD&D Call Thematic Topics
25 topics have been developed by SEAI and relevant stakeholder organisations highlighting key research needs. For more details see the topic descriptions in the call document.
Call Document Topic Descriptions - Annex 1 p. 13-44Level of funding available & funding rate
Level of funding available
The level of funding available depends on the scale/type of your project. The Table below provides an overview of the typical project durations, and maximum level of funding available.
| Scale/Type | Typical Duration | Typical Maximum SEAI Funding |
|---|---|---|
| Small Scale | Up to 12 months | Up to €200,000 |
| Medium Scale | 12 - 36 months | Up to €650,000 |
| Large Scale | 36 - 48 months | Up to €1,000,000 |
| Academic Fellowships | 12 - 36 months | Up to €300,000 |
| SEAI-based Fellowships | 12-24 months | Up to €200,000 |
Funding rate
EU state aid rules stipulate:
- what types of research activities are eligible for support
- which costs relating to these activities may be covered in part or in full (ranging from 25% up to 100%)
- the maximum aid intensity that may be granted for the various activities
Applicants should refer to the SEAI RD&D Budget Policy for additional information in relation to which category their project falls under. This document is available to download from the Programme documents section below.
2021 SEAI National Energy RD&D Funding Call
The 2021 programme call attracted great interest and as such was extremely competitive, with €19 million in funding awarded to 50 research projects. There was a significant increase in national demand for energy research funding in 2021 with 56% more applications compared to the most recent call in 2019, proving it an extremely competitive Call.
The 2021 programme was run with support from the following strategic co-funding partners: The Department of Transport and the Geological Survey of Ireland.
The projects bring together leading academic institutes, industry partners, and not-for-profits to tackle key areas in our national efforts to transition to a low carbon society.
See the full listing of the successful 2021 Awardees below!
2021 SEAI National Energy RD&D Awards
| Lead Organisation | Lead Applicant | Project title |
|---|---|---|
| Brightwind Ltd | Stephen Holleran | Further developments of a wind & solar resource analysis cloud application and open data platform. |
| Codema | Declan McCormac | Integration of heat, electricity and transport: use of curtailed renewable energy using Poolbeg case study |
| DareTech | Daren Hayes | Marine Hybrid Power Systems (EIRE) |
| Digital Array Control Systems Ltd | John Byrne | EV Battery Reuse Protocol – Field Trials 1-4 |
|
Dowmann Limited |
Cathal Moroney | Grow Green Burn Blue |
| Dublin City University | Burcu Gunes |
Developing an economically viable dark fermentation process for biohydrogen production from Irish whiskey distillery and dairy industry wastes. |
| Dundalk Institute of Technology | Paul MacArtain | Enabling distributed wind to contribute to Ireland’s energy future |
| eco-Mova.teo | Rory Staunton | EV Extender |
| Economic and Social Research Institute | John Curtis | Evaluating uptake routes of green hydrogen and the market potential of electrolysers and fuel cells in the Irish power sector |
| Economic and Social Research Institute | John Curtis | A power-system wide assessment of green hydrogen potential |
| EireComposites Teo | Tomas Flanagan | REBLADE |
| Gavin and Doherty Geosolutions Ltd. (GDG) | James McAteer | GEONORM - Geothermal Energy and Optimal Renewable Mix at UCD (Co-funded by Geological Survey of Ireland) |
| GlasPort Bio Limited | Ruairi Friel | GEBTech Plus - Green Energy Boosting Technology for Sustainable Pig Production |
| Grian Water Ltd | Kieran Coffey | Demonstration Micro Scale Anaerobic Digester for a School |
| Irish Green Building Council | Rosemarie Mac Sweeney | ENACT- Retrofit. Enabling National Action for Commercial Take-up of Retrofitting |
| Marine Materials Ireland Ltd | Brian Mannion | Design, build and testing of a novel Deep-sea Wind energy Demonstrator - DeepWindDemo |
| Munster Technological University | Alan McGibney | CORDS: Collaborative Data Space for Distributed Intelligence supporting Energy Performance Management |
| National University of Ireland Galway | Jason Flanagan | High-Resolution Microscale Wind Datasets and the Promotion of Renewable Energy Datasets for Ireland |
| National University of Ireland Galway | Eoghan Clifford | Adaptive control in wastewater treatment systems to drive energy efficiency while meeting discharge regulations |
| National University of Ireland Galway | Miriam Byrne | BENEFIT - Building Evaluations for Indoor Air Quality and Comfort in the Non-Residential Sector Following Energy Efficient Improvement |
| National University of Ireland Galway | Jamie Goggins | UPFRONT-CO2e: Understanding Potential For Realising Our National Targets on Embodied Energy and Global Warming Potential |
| National University of Ireland Galway | Guangxue Wu | Development of a novel methanogenic biotechnology incorporating conductive carriers for the efficient recovery of energy from wastewater |
| National University of Ireland Galway | Xinmin Zhan | ADED: Integration of anaerobic digestion (AD) and electrodialysis (ED) for methane yield promotion and ammonia in-situ recovery |
| Nektr Technologies Ltd | Monika Ehrensberger | A novel technology to maximise biofuel production efficiency. |
| Ocean Wave Venture | Ronan Costello | BlueBox - Edge computing for ocean data science |
| Pure Marine Gen (Ireland) Ltd | Philip Irwin | New power take-off (PTO) and control system for DUO wave energy technology to enable access to emerging markets |
| Rockall Research Ltd | Alan Henry | Support Infrastructure for Marine Renewable Energy in Ireland (SIMREI) |
| SLR Environmental Consulting (Ireland) Ltd | Nick O'Neill | Hydrogen Salt Storage Assessment (HYSS) (Co-funded by Geological Survey Ireland) |
| Technology from Ideas | Noel Halloran | Wave Goodbye to Diesel (WGtD) |
|
Trinity College Dublin |
Brian Caulfield | TRACT: TRAnsport Behaviour Change Trials (Co-funded by Department of Transport) |
|
Trinity College Dublin |
Breiffni Fitzgerald | Data Driven Digital Twin of Wind Farm (TwinFarm) |
|
Trinity College Dublin |
Bidisha Ghosh | DRIFT-HDV: DecaRbonisation Irish HDV FleeT (Co-funded by Department of Transport) |
|
Trinity College Dublin |
Aonghus McNabola | Hygrothermal assessment in cold roof buildings with reduced ventilation. |
| University College Cork | Thomas Doyle | CETUS – Cetacean, Elasmobranch, Turtle and Seabird distributional modelling platform supporting the sustainable development of offshore renewable energy |
| University College Cork | Paul Leahy | HyFloat1: Concept development of floating offshore wind foundations coupled with hydrogen storage |
| University College Cork | Shafi Khadem | Exploring the Full Potential of Collocated PV Plant and Battery Energy Storage Systems towards the ZERO dispatch downtime (COSTORE) |
| University College Dublin | Damian Flynn | Transportable Utility-scale Energy Storage System to Reduce Curtailment and Constraint of Renewable Energy Sources |
| University College Dublin | Oliver Kinnane | Fab Trads: Hygrothermal Properties of Traditional Building Materials and Fabrics |
| University College Dublin | Oliver Kinnane | MacAirh: Monitoring and Comparing of Air Source Heat pumps |
| University College Dublin | Abdollah Malekjafarian | A comprehensive decision support tool for end-of-life wind turbines of Ireland; Lifetime Extension, Decommissioning, Repowering, Repurposing [WindLEDeRR] |
| University College Dublin | Ravi Reddy Manumachu | Software tools and solutions to improve the energy efficiency of servers and data centres |
| University College Dublin | Federico Milano | Frequency Control of Renewable Energy Sources in Low-Inertia Power Systems (FRESLIPS) |
| University College Dublin | Vikram Pakrashi | Remote and autonomous inspection and maintenance of onshore and offshore wind turbines (REMOTE-WIND) |
| University of Limerick | James Green | Inclusive Sustainable Cycling (ISCycle): Inclusive E-bike Uptake and Sustainable Use (Co-funded by Department of Transport) |
| University of Limerick | Stephen Kinsella | Smart Building Living Lab (SmartLab) |
| University of Limerick | Kevin Ryan | Closing the energy loop through reuse, recover and recycle for the continuous use of battery energy (R-CUBE) |
| University of Limerick | Daniel Joseph Toal | Robots for Wind Farms |
| University of Limerick | Trevor Young | SPOTBlade - Strategies for erosion and fouling Protection of Offshore Turbine Blades |
| Waterford Institute of Technology | Kevin Doolin | Sustainability Dingle |
SEAI RD&D Technical Evaluator Database
Are you interested in reviewing and evaluating applications as a technical expert?
In line with international best practice, SEAI assigns experts with a record of publication and/or relevant experience in specific subject areas to act as technical evaluators of applications submitted to the SEAI National Energy RD&D Funding Programme Call. A financial incentive will be provided to eligible Technical Evaluators to reimburse the time spent undertaking the reviews.
Expression of Interest
Experts may submit an expression of interest to SEAI to indicate their interest in participating in the evaluation of applications submitted to the SEAI RD&D Call.
Expressions of interest should be emailed to energyresearch@seai.ie. Your expression of interest should include:
- Your name and organisation
- Your area of expertise/experience (50 words max)
Experts who have submitted an Expression of Interest will be informed by email of the application process, which includes filling out a short application form and providing a CV. Appointed experts will be required to adhere to strict reviewer confidentiality, GDPR requirements, and to sign a Declaration of Confidentiality and Conflict of Interest Form. If an expert considers they have a conflict of interest, they are asked to declare this and may not be eligible to participate in the evaluation process. In case of any doubt, please contact energyresearch@seai.ie.
Contact us
If you have any queries on the SEAI National Energy RD&D Funding Programme please contact EnergyResearch@seai.ie