Powerful maritime batteries and quantum dots for high-efficiency solar cells are among the research topics addressed by the 25 projects recently awarded a total of NOK 239 million in funding from the Research Council of Norway.
The funding is being allocated under the Research Council's Large-scale Programme for Energy Research (ENERGIX), and competition was fierce. By the February deadline the programme had received 122 applications seeking a total of NOK 1 050 million. But in the end, only one in five proposed projects were granted funding.
Broad range of topics and international perspectives
The winning project proposals span the thematic priority areas of bioenergy, solar energy, hydropower, wind energy, energy policy, energy systems, raising energy efficiency, and batteries.
"The projects granted funding under this call cover a wide scope," says ENERGIX programme coordinator Ane Torvanger Brunvoll. "The topics are highly relevant and encompass areas in which Norwegian players have specific competitive advantages. I am also pleased to see so many exciting international partners involved in the projects."
Researcher Projects and Knowledge-building Projects for Industry
In this funding round the ENERGIX programme allocated grants to Researcher Projects and Knowledge-building Projects for Industry. The bulk of the funding, NOK 185 million, will go to Knowledge-building Projects, while NOK 53 million will go to Researcher Projects.
Because of the particularly high number of high-quality applications for Knowledge-building Projects for Industry received, the ENERGIX programme board has decided to expand the budgetary framework for this application type by NOK 35'55 million beyond the amount estimated in the call for proposals.
