PROJECT IDEA
IDÉE DE PROJET
The Project Idea Form is a public document, if you wish to keep it private at between the JS and
your partnership at this stage, please advise your Facilitator / Le Document Idée de Projet est un
document public, si vous souhaitez qu’il reste privé entre le SC et votre partenariat pour le
moment, merci d’en informer votre coordinateur de l’animation.
Project Name / Nom du projet : SYNERGY for Advanced Energy Hubs and Wide User Engagement
Contact / Contact : Dr Konstantinos Chalvatzis
Name / Nom : Dr Konstantinos Chalvatzis
Organisation / Organisme : University of East Anglia
Address / Adresse : Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
Telephone number / Numéro de téléphone : +44 (0)79 7565 3868 and +44 (0)1603 59 7241
E-mail / E-mail : k.chalvatzis@uea.ac.uk and k.chalvatzis@gmail.com
Specific Objective / Objectif spécifique :
Keep only one and erase the others/ Garder un seul et effacer les autres
1.1 - To increase the delivery and uptake of innovative products, processes, systems and
services in shared smart specialisation sectors.
1.1 - Accroître le développement et l’adoption de produits, processus, systèmes et services
innovants dans les secteurs de spécialisation intelligente partagés
1.2 - Increase the quality and effectiveness of service delivery to the most socially
disadvantaged groups through social innovation
The Interreg VA France (Channel) England Programme is financed by European Regional Development Funds/
Le Programme Interreg VA France (Manche) Angleterre est financé par le Fonds Européen de Développement Régional
1.2 - Accroitre la qualité et l’efficacité des prestations de services en faveur des groupes les
plus défavorisés socialement et économiquement, par l’innovation sociale
2.1 - Increase the development and uptake of existing or new low-carbon technologies in
the sectors that have the highest potential for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
2.1 - Accroître le développement et l’adoption de technologies sobres en carbone dans les
secteurs ayant le plus grand potentiel de réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre
3.1 - Realise the potential of the common natural and cultural assets to deliver innovative and
sustainable growth
3.1 - Valoriser les atouts du patrimoine naturel et culturel commun pour soutenir une
croissance économique innovante et durable
3.2 - Enhance and protect coastal and transitional water ecosystems
3.2 - Améliorer et protéger les écosystèmes côtiers et les eaux de transition
The Interreg VA France (Channel) England Programme is financed by European Regional Development Funds/
Le Programme Interreg VA France (Manche) Angleterre est financé par le Fonds Européen de Développement Régional
Summary description of the project idea (1 page max.) / Description synthétique du projet (1 page
max.):
SYNERGY is a project that will promote the optimum integration of existing and forthcoming
low-carbon energy technologies and lead to their increased market uptake, opportunities for
economic growth and technological innovation in the France (Channel) England Region and beyond.
The problem:
The coastal areas of northern France and southern UK face similar energy management
challenges since they have to integrate large variable energy supply systems to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions. The two regions also share commonalities of vast, semi-rural areas with large,
dispersed building estates hosting universities, hospitals or other facilities where energy
management is far from optimal, with environmental and financial consequences.
Most importantly, the two regions share a need for private investment in cutting edge
industries that will support export capabilities and regional growth. No domains are more promising
in delivering high impact, disruptive innovation and specialised jobs than those of the data driven
digital economy in low carbon energy and communications.
The project solution:
Storage is the missing element of the energy supply chain and is fundamental to unlock the
large scale integration of renewable energy. Hydrogen and batteries are the two most promising
new technologies for energy storage with direct applicability in building estates and the transport
sector. Furthermore, the diversifying energy mix requires large scale advancements in data
management throughout the grid to integrate highly variable sources of supply and to create
efficient pricing and delivery strategies.
The project will develop two sustainable energy hubs within university campuses; one in North
France (based on hydrogen) and one in East Anglia (based on batteries). Both campuses will combine
a number of new low carbon technological innovations that will be integrated within their existing
infrastructure including thermal energy storage; demand side management; renewable energy and
conventional energy supply; grid connections and building management systems; and integration
with electric and hybrid vehicle systems. The benefits of these energy and emissions saving
technologies will be promoted by a multifaceted dissemination programme.
The second phase of the SYNERGY project will be to make optimum use of the installed
infrastructure by opening it up to clusters of software and app developers. By making available its
big-data and facilitating access for talented developers we will unleash data-driven innovation and
entrepreneurial opportunities that will lead to specialised start-up companies and economic
growth. This will be the first ever time that app developers will have open access to detailed data
derived from cutting edge low carbon facilities.
Links with current growth initiatives
France and the UK have just (27th July 2015) created the joint UK-France Data Taskforce to
enhance UK-France cooperation on open data where the UK is a world-leader in making data
available for public use, including by tech entrepreneurs. In the UK alone, the digital sector is one of
the largest wealth creators setting up over 250,000 businesses every year and contributing £113bn
to the economy.
Examples of concrete actions / Exemples d’actions concrètes :
The Interreg VA France (Channel) England Programme is financed by European Regional Development Funds/
Le Programme Interreg VA France (Manche) Angleterre est financé par le Fonds Européen de Développement Régional
The SYNERGY project will be organised in work packages which will describe specific actions that
will be fully described and explained in the proposal. Some of the themes of these work-packages
are highlighted below:
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Development of battery energy HUB at the University of East Anglia (UEA)
o Installation of Lithium-Ion battery
o Integration of the energy demand-side management system
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Development of hydrogen energy HUB at a North France campus
o Installation of the hydrogen energy storage
o Integration of decentralised energy generation
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Development of online data sharing platform
o Development of interface suitable for training and education
o Development of interface suitable for app developers
o Development of Input/output testing systems for new apps
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Dissemination activities
o Events in France and the UK inviting campus and estates energy managers to
demonstrate the state of the art low carbon facilities and explain the benefits in cost
saving and sustainability.
o Events that will reach out to the software developer communities in France and the
UK and invite them to contribute their app ideas for optimal use of the platform.
o Events in France and the UK designed for knowledge exchange between Local and
Central Government, industrial partners, start-up companies in the low carbon
technology domain and energy managers.
Changes that the project will contribute to /Changements auxquels le projet contribuera :
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Demonstration of the technological feasibility of the interoperation of advanced low carbon
energy technologies in existing building estates and campuses.
Demonstration and improved understanding of the interoperability of low carbon building
estates and low carbon vehicles.
Improved market maturity for battery and hydrogen energy storage systems through a
complete set of comparative benchmarking studies.
Development and demonstration of optimum business models for rapid market uptake of
the selected low carbon technologies.
The Interreg VA France (Channel) England Programme is financed by European Regional Development Funds/
Le Programme Interreg VA France (Manche) Angleterre est financé par le Fonds Européen de Développement Régional
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Development of new, specialised jobs in low carbon technology providers (including but not
limited to the project consortium companies).
For the first time enabling patterns of disruptive innovation (such as opening data access) in
the low carbon energy domain that will deliver new methods, products and services.
New start-up companies and regional growth in highly specialised and export capable
domains that will exploit new business opportunities (via apps and online products and
services).
New training and education opportunities for regional stakeholders (via on-site
programmes) and global stakeholders (via online courses).
Cross border added value / Valeur ajoutée transfrontalière :
The SYNERGY project is designed to maximise cross-border value in resolving common France
(Channel) England issues in the low carbon domain. The structures utilised will facilitate crossfertilisation of new knowledge development in ways that the whole is larger than the sum of the
parts.
 The distinct expertise developed in in both countries will be shared to enhance crosslearning and accelerate further knowledge development.
o France: hydrogen; large-scale nuclear-based electricity supply system; marine
renewable energy integration; vertically integrated energy utilities
o UK: batteries; agile decentralised energy management; offshore wind integration
 Knowledge on different low carbon energy markets (France and the UK markets) will be
developed jointly to cover a wide spectrum of regulatory options.
 Business models suitable for different energy markets (France and the UK markets) will be
developed jointly to respond to a wide spectrum of growth and leveraging structures.
 Shared development of joint training and education opportunities for regional stakeholders
(via on-site programmes) and global stakeholders (via online courses).
Capitalisation on previous initiatives/ Capitalisation sur de précédentes initiatives:
The project will capitalise on several prior initiatives in order to provide best value for money (and
avoiding it re-inventing the wheel):
 The UK team has a rich experience in demand side management and systems making use of
electrochemical energy storage (batteries). The lead applicant (Dr Konstantinos Chalvatzis)
leads UEA in the Consortium project TILOS (ranked 1st in the Horizon 2020 LCE8 call for
The Interreg VA France (Channel) England Programme is financed by European Regional Development Funds/
Le Programme Interreg VA France (Manche) Angleterre est financé par le Fonds Européen de Développement Régional
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Local/Small Scale Energy Storage); a €15m demonstration project that will be on the works
in the four years running up to the end of 2018. The project will build experience in smart
energy systems and the business models that can take them to market maturity.
UEA has, in the previous years, invested and will continue to invest over €7m on sustainable
energy features including solar energy 200kW (to be expanded to 1MW in 2016); 3MW
combined heat and power (CHP) gas engines; 200m3 of heat storage in 2016; and 1MW
biomass boiler (2016). The campus also hosts several award winning buildings including the
new Enterprise Centre which conforms to the Passivhaus Standard. These facilities will be
available for demonstration and test runs throughout the proposed project providing
substantial savings and value for money.
SAFT (battery supplier) has experience in research projects mainly in Germany, Canada and
Italy testing grid connected energy storage (7th EU Framework Programme for Research
NiceGrid as part of the wider initiative Grid4EU).
OpenEnergi is a leading demand side management company in the UK. Through a number
of previous research projects (mainly funded by private funds and UK Government) they
have developed rapid response systems to control energy consumption and smoothen
demand.
In addition to specific partner led initiatives there are also current policy initiatives that the project
will be linked to and benefit from. These are:
 “UK-France data taskforce” is a recent (27th July 2015) initiative that aims to open to the
public and tech entrepreneurs data that will facilitate data driven innovation. The SYNERGY
project aims to be the first low carbon technology to join this initiative that aims to the
creation of thousands of new start-ups across the UK-France region.
 The UK Government has identified its “8 Great Technologies” that prioritises for investment,
research and development. The SYNERGY project is clearly aligned with 2 out of them which
Energy Storage and Big Data.
 The French Government has prioritised “Resource Management and Adaptation to Climate
Change” and “Clean, Secure and Efficient Energy” in its France-Europe Agenda 2020 for
Research, Technology Transfer and Innovation.
 Both the UK and France have adopted national roadmaps for the uptake and integration of
hydrogen fuel-cell and battery electric vehicles to reduce the emissions of the transportation
sector.
The Interreg VA France (Channel) England Programme is financed by European Regional Development Funds/
Le Programme Interreg VA France (Manche) Angleterre est financé par le Fonds Européen de Développement Régional
Sustainability/Durabilité :
Environmental Sustainability is at the heart of the SYNERGY project in the following ways:
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Innovative demonstration of new low carbon technologies that will facilitate energy and
emissions savings and increased the role of renewable energy sources.
First time integration of existing and new low carbon technologies that will facilitate the
modernisation of the existing building estates stock and its sustainable transformation.
Training and education opportunities to develop a new generation of skilled workers in low
carbon technologies.
Financial Sustainability and continuation of the project’s objectives post-funding.
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The extensive business models that will be developed during the project will secure multiple
streams of income in order to make it attractive for private investment and market uptake.
The positive results of the project in energy management and low carbon technology will be
disseminated directly to policy makers regionally, nationally and at the EU level. The result
will be to feed in new innovation policy initiatives that will mobilise further private funding
and profitable enterprising.
The early stages of the project the consortium will include a dissemination campaign
engaging estate and campuses energy managers to inform them about the benefits of these
technologies and support them in refurbishing the estates of their organisations.
Partners (with their geographical areas) already involved in the project idea / Partenaires (en
précisant leur zone géographique) déjà impliquées à ce stade d’idée de projet:
The SYNERGY project will be delivered by a consortium of experienced partners who are leaders in
their respective fields. In the following lines there is some brief information about the partners’ role
in the project. Please consider the previous section (capitalisation on previous initiatives) for further
information about the partners’ experience.
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University of East Anglia (UK): UEA’s role is twofold; firstly UEA will provide the site and
supporting facilities in its Norwich campus; secondly UEA (Norwich Business School and
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research) will support the business implementation of
the project and its sustainability credentials.
SAFT SA (France and UK): SAFT is France based multinational battery supplier with
manufacturing and supporting operations in several countries including the UK, Germany,
Italy and France. SAFT will provide state of the art lithium ion batteries for the project.
The Interreg VA France (Channel) England Programme is financed by European Regional Development Funds/
Le Programme Interreg VA France (Manche) Angleterre est financé par le Fonds Européen de Développement Régional


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OpenEnergi (UK): is a leading demand side management company in the UK. Through a
number of previous research projects (mainly funded by private funds and UK Government)
they have developed rapid response systems to control energy consumption and smoothen
demand. OpenEnergi will provide energy demand-side control systems for this project.
Wipro (UK): is a multinational IT consulting organisation with long experience in big data,
cloud-based operations and applications in the utilities sector in the UK and globally. Wipro
will provide IT platforms and support for this project.
SyncNorwich (UK): is an active IT cluster participating in the UK-wide TechNation initiative
with over 750 software developers. In collaboration with other IT clusters such as Norfolk
Developers and HotSource they will form the initial app developers’ body that will make use
of the data and infrastructure sharing platforms.
Potential partners sought (skills wanted) / Partenaires potentiels recherchés (compétences
recherchées) :
England / Angleterre :
The UK partners mentioned previously are sufficient to develop the project. However, the following
are currently sought in order to further enhance the project and maximize its potential.
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Further IT clusters in the project region; already looking into Ipswich based clusters in
collaboration with BT’s Global Research and Development Headquarters in Ipswich.
Electric vehicle supplier in order to further integrate sustainable transport in the project.
Nissan UK could potentially provide the Nissan Leaf which is manufactured in the UK.
France / France :
Preliminary desk research about suitable partners has taken place but it is necessary to continue
searching for and discussing with potential French partners to join the consortium. The preliminary
search has identified the Energy Hydro Data 2020 Association as a promising consortium to connect
with; input from the managing authority and programme facilitators would be welcome. Other
partners would include:
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Provider of suitable campus/building estate. This should ideally be a university campus but
other building estates, such as hospitals, housing and other public and private sector
buildings would provide useful case studies.
Hydrogen technology supplier; including components for hydrolysis, hydrogen storage and
fuel cells.
IT platform and cloud integration supplier; could potentially use WIPRO.
Further IT clusters that can use the available facilities and data for app sustainability and
optimal energy management apps development in the project region.
Partners that would enhance the project’s potential and spillover effects into the transport sector:
The Interreg VA France (Channel) England Programme is financed by European Regional Development Funds/
Le Programme Interreg VA France (Manche) Angleterre est financé par le Fonds Européen de Développement Régional

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Electric vehicle supplier in order to further integrate sustainable transport in the project.
Renault could potentially provide the Renault Zoe, which is produced in France.
Hydrogen vehicle supplier in order to further integrate the specific features of hydrogen in
sustainable transport into the project. Toyota and Hyundai have commercially available
hydrogen vehicles (Toyota Mirai and Hyundai iX35) that would be suitable for this project.
Start date and end date of the project / Dates de début et de fin du projet:
Exact start and end dates are flexible and will be finalised at a later application stage in
collaboration with the managing authority.
Start Date: 1st October 2016
End Date: 30th September 2021
Estimated project cost / Coût estimé du projet:
Detailed costing and budgeting will be finalised in collaboration with the consortium partners at a
later application stage. It is expected that €7,500,000 will be adequate for the full exploitation of
the project in France, the UK and beyond.
Other comments / Autres commentaires :
Has a programme facilitator from the InterregVA FCE Joint Technical Secretariat provided advice to
the project applicant? / Un coordinateur de l’animation du Secrétariat Technique Conjoint FMA at--’il conseillé le porteur du projet ?
Keep only one and erase the others/ Garder un seul et effacer les autres
Yes / Oui
No / Non
If yes, facilitator’s name / Si oui, quel est le nom du coordinateur de l’animation ?
Name / Nom: Mrs Helene Gentils
The Interreg VA France (Channel) England Programme is financed by European Regional Development Funds/
Le Programme Interreg VA France (Manche) Angleterre est financé par le Fonds Européen de Développement Régional