The EU-Korea Climate Action Project supports Climate Partnerships between Korean and European non-state entities who commit to implement climate actions in priority areas such as renewable energy, energy efficiency in buildings, sustainable mobility, circular economy and best low-carbon business practices. Climate Partnerships bring together actors from the following stakeholder categories: government authorities below the national level, NGOs and CSOs, industry, business intermediaries and businesses, academic and research institutes, and media organisations. Proposed actions are expected to focus mostly on activities or subjects relevant to the Republic of Korea, with the exception of capacity building measures in the form of study tours to EU Member States.

The project is pleased to announce that its first call for proposals is now open.

The priority topics for this call are: ‘Renewable Energy’ and ‘Energy-Efficient Buildings’.

The 1st Call for Proposals in a Nutshell Supported Actions: European-Korean Joint Research and Pilot Projects Thematic Priorities: Renewable Energy; Energy-Efficient Buildings Location: Republic of Korea (Korea) Eligible Partners: Climate Partnerships composed of at least one European and one Korean entity from any of the following categories: government authorities at the sub-national level, NGOs and CSOs, business intermediaries, SMEs, research institutes and academia. Application Timeline: From September 16 until the available funding envelope is exhausted Funding per Project: Up to EUR 20,000 Total Funding available under the call: EUR 300,000

Objective of this Call  

The specific objective of this Call for Proposals is to stimulate climate action on the ground in the form of Joint Research Projects or Pilot Projects to contribute to Korea’s GHG emissions reduction and climate change adaptation efforts. With reference to the two priority topics, this call intends to contribute to enhanced knowledge and to provide solutions in Korea for instance by:

• Raising social understanding and acceptance of renewable energy;
• Supporting the effective deployment of renewable energy and the corresponding enabling framework;
• Supporting a more sustainable and secure power supply;
• Raising awareness about strategies to integrate renewable power into the energy supply;
• Strengthening skills and know-how in the construction industry about energy-efficient solutions;
• Improving the energy efficiency of new and old buildings;
• Reducing GHG emissions caused by buildings;
• Fostering behavioural change conducive to energy-savings in buildings.

Examples of Possible Activities to Be Supported under the Two Priority Areas

The following sections provide additional information on specific sub-sectors of relevance for each of the two priority areas. These lists are indicative and not meant to be exhaustive.

(1) Renewable Energy                 (1.1) Ensuring sustainability and security of Korea’s power supply

• Mapping out how to enhance the existing electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure capacity to cope with variable power generation from renewable sources such as wind and solar and valorise system flexibility;
• Identifying key enabling factors towards a flexible electricity system backed up by relevant market mechanisms;
• Identifying possible technical and business model for demand side management and new energy services (aggregation) in a view to harnessing the flexibility provided by a larger share of renewable energy (possibly, in conjunction with enhanced energy efficiency in buildings);
• Identifying key enabling factors and suggesting appropriate schemes to provide investors in renewable power generation with enhanced predictability and project viability;
• Proposing innovative power sinks as well as advanced power storage technologies.(1.2) Korean social acceptance of utility scale renewable energy power generation  
• Knowledge and experience exchange, education programs and trainings on establishing renewable energy generation cooperatives, i.e. locally shared ownership of wind farms or PV arrays;
• Creation and operation of an EU-Korea web-based marketplace for SMEs interested in trading renewable energy technology, products and services;
• Business models and technologies for the decentralised supply of renewable energy to businesses and buildings, including the integration of energy storage systems and demand side management;
• Case studies of best practices in the field of community consultation and local cooperation on renewable energy, profit sharing, and environmental protection from renewable power projects, identifying areas of cooperation with local Korean authorities;
• Sharing experience and knowledge on the integration of renewable power into the national or local grid, identifying power sinks and electricity storage solutions.

(2) Energy Efficiency in Buildings                  (2.1) Ensuring energy efficiency of new residential, commercial and industrial buildings

• Developing zero-carbon house standards and manuals that could support the introduction of this concept in South Korea.
• Developing training schemes for architects, engineers, construction workers and the commissioning authorities on the energy-saving installation of passive energy-consuming components and devices;
• Piloting technological upgrades such as passive-house technology and promoting behavioural change in support of zero-carbon housing;
• Documenting options for expanding district heating systems and heat-pump technology, in particular integrating ICT-technology and smart home concepts as part of demand side management, smart metering and new energy services (e.g. aggregators).

                   (2.2) Improving the energy performance of the existing building stock

• Organizing public awareness campaigns on measures to improve energy efficiency in the existing housing stock;
• Developing cooperation models on energy retrofitting of existing residential or commercial buildings;
• Joint benchmark studies on specific building characteristics and related energy optimisation options in EU and Korea;
• Workshops on specific energy efficiency technologies for buildings and the economics behind these;
• Building a compensation mechanism for energy saving using an inter-city block chain approach.

 

Application Procedures and Templates

All related information and documents are available under the “Call for Proposal” section of this website. Registration with the EU-Korea Climate Action website www.climateaction-korea.eu is necessary in order to access and download the call documents. The registration is a simple, fast and free of charge process that provides users with exclusive information such as proposal guidelines and application forms, and allows them to publish their own case-studies, view stakeholders’ profiles and best practices, find potential partners.

Proposals will be examined and evaluated on an ongoing basis by the Project Steering Committee with the possible assistance of external experts.

For any further information you may contact: ClimatePartnership [at] climateaction-korea.eu