My Department, through the SEAI Research, Development & Demonstration Programme, funds innovative energy RD&D Projects. The 2022 RD&D Call closed for applications on 16 May 2022; applications are currently under evaluation.
Applicants are invited from public and public sector organisations based in Ireland, including companies, 3rd level educational organisations, public sector and semi-state bodies. Collaboration is strongly encouraged, recognising that Ireland will require multi-faceted solutions to tackle complex challenges and also to foster two-way learning from academia to practise.
Projects can be led by any type of organisation, and typically have up to 4 partners. Approximately 50 research grants were awarded from the prior 3 RD&D Calls, with practically a 50/50 split between private and public project leadership, and of these in excess of 80% are collaborative projects. This results in about 150 grant recipients from each Call, largely in collaborative mix public/private consortiums.
SEAI invests in innovative energy RD&D projects which contribute to Ireland's transition to a clean and secure energy future, of which renewable energy is an important element. Since the programme was revised in 2018, approximately €40m has been invested in such projects. From this cohort, 30 renewable energy focused projects were awarded €10.8m in 2021, which will be drawn down reflecting individual spend over the projects’ varying duration up to 2025.
For details of projects previously funded under the SEAI RD&D are available on the National Energy Research Database www.seai.ie/data-and-insights/seai-research/research-database/. The Database provides details on funding recipients and values.
