French SME that want to develop new services for the renewable energy sector can now benefit from a new form of public support: innovation vouchers. Such vouchers are quick to obtain, they do not involve much administrative effort, and they can be used to buy external expertise.
Continuous opening for submission of projects: December 2008 - December 2009
Context
The CIP project KIS-PIMS(Knowledge-intensive services for the renewable energy sector), coordinated by Technofi (FR) gathers 14 European partners, national and/or regional innovation and energy agencies, clusters, public research centres and innovation consultants within the field. The 3-year project targets France, Austria and Finland.
National innovation agency OSEO and its French partners ADEME, CapEnergies, TENERRDIS and DERBI, have launched a continuous 12-months call for proposals at national level directed at SMEs willing to introduce service innovations related to the renewable energy sector into the market.
Sucessful applicant SMEs will receive an INNOVATION VOUCHER (chèque innovation) to be used with an external European innovation experts to analyse the relevance of the planned innovation projects, their competitive positioning, the risk profile and financing needs, and to thus accelerate the deployment of new services for the renwable energy sector in Europe.
What are the possible services?
The proposed innovative services can cover the entire life cycle of a renewable energy technology. These can include but are not limited to:
- Feasibility studies for the establishment of facilities (offices, architects, installers, engineers): simulation software operation, software forecast energy production (heat and / or electric), planning methods, techniques for CBA...
- Installation processes (installers, service companies in energy): automation of the set, securing sites and persons, measuring performance, measuring energy produced or consumed...
- Operational control and optimisation (operators of production sites): innovative services include global energy optimization, aggregation of separate facilities...
- Maintenance and repair service providers: corrective and preventive maintenance, predictive maintenance, fault detection, remote control repairs...
- Dismantling service providers (recovery or valorisation): processes for equipment recycling, technical dismantling, recycling logistics...
- Providers of logistical support services of biomass supply and use of residues (from combustion, biomass gasification).
- Staff training service providers: distance learning using Internet solutions, adaptation training for new equipment...
Innovation agency OSEO’s support through the vouchers aims to facilitate access of SME’s to European expertise; this expertise will enable the assessment of risks related to service innovation projects faster (technical, commercial, managerial, financial, IPR), consolidate plans of development, and finally point out and link up with sources of financing, national or European, adapted to the development needs of the specific project.
This new scheme is tested in 2009 in co-operation between OSEO, ADEME and three renewable energy clusters: CapEnergies, DERBI and TENERRDIS.
How to access the scheme?
There are many options available for project developers:
- SME carrying out their activities in one of the three regions where the competitive clusters directly involved in renewable energy are located (CapEnergies/ PACA, DERBI/ Languedoc-Roussillon, TENERRDIS/ Rhône-Alps) should address their files directly to the appropriate local cluster/ pole.
- If the project is carried by a SME of another region, the file can be directly addressed to the regional direction of OSEO.
Eligibility criteria
In order to be eligible, an innovative service project:
- Must be owned by a SME (an enterprise of 2000 or less people, or belonging to a group of 2000 or less people)
- Can either be an individual or a collaborative project
- Have as an objective the development of a innovative service to deploy renewable energies
- Be responsive to market demands
- Present positive outcomes in growth, employment and sustainable development
- To not have been subject to public financing for the same project
In order to benefit from the KIS-PIMS support, the project developer must:
- Fulfil the eligibility criteria set out in the section above
- Be selected by the Committee (assessment of submitted projects due to take place every two months)
- Send in all the required documents to OSEO
The assistance will be granted by OSEO based on the estimate of the expertise retained by the company and of the specific expenses incurred by the company for services provided by the expert.The subsidy granted by OSEO will be 15 000 € maximum, covering 75% of the external expertise, while not exceeding 50% of the total amount of the expenditure carried out by the company. The payment of the subsidy will be carried out after the payment of the external consultancy fees by the company and the submission of the report of the expert to OSEO during a meeting with a representative from OSEO, the expert and the company.
Contacts:
CapEnergies [2]:
Karine.zunino@cea.fr [3] DERBI [4]:
Virginie.garrel@univ-perp.fr [5] TENERDIS [6] :
Ingrid.milcent@tenerrdis.fr [7] http://www.oseo.fr [7]