The project focuses on strengthening the regional production of biomass as a source of bio energy. A substantiated and consolidated investment plan based on commercially viable bio-energy supply chains will be presented and implemented. The business model will be applied in parallel to differentiated blue-green energy clusters in the NSR and ensure transfer of management expertise between the clusters and identify market interdependences.
The aim is to enable the successful further exploitation of the region's blue-green low carbon energy sources by integrating the biomass grower at one end and the energy producer at the other end. enercoast will thereby open new sources of bio energy, reduce the regional dependency of energy imports and increase the competitiveness of regional energy producers as well to ensure their income in a long-term perspective.
Duration
01/06/2008 - 30/09/2012
Priority
2 - Promoting the Sustainable Management of our Environment
Area of Intervention
2.4 Promoting environmentally responsible energy production practices
ERDF Grant
1,481,027.00 €
ERDF Equivalent
205,842.00 €
Total Eligible Budget
3,373,738.00 €
Lead Beneficiary
COAST Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development Research; University of Oldenburg, Germany Gerard McGovern gerard.mcgovern@uni-oldenburg.de Tel: +49- (0)4152 837750
COAST Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development Research, University of Oldenburg
Lower Saxony Chamber of Agriculture
Norway
Ryfylkekommunane iks
County Governor of Rogaland
Sweden
Innovatum Technology Park
United Kingdom
Northumberland College
Denmark
CBMI Innovation Centre for Bionergy and Environmental Technology
Randers Kommune
Norddjurs Kommune
Syddjurs Kommune
Background and Aim
Aim Key aims of the project are:
Reduce regional dependency on imported energy through activation of domestic resources,
Intensify co-operation between producers of biomass, waste management and energy infrastructure authorities and stakeholders,
Diversify the deployment of alternative bio energy resources in respect of environmental criteria,
Boost regional bio energy production through enhanced supply chain economics,
Strengthen the energy co-operation within the Region's coastal societies,
Deliver a clear North Sea regional contribution to the EU renewable energy target.
Background "The EU currently meets 4% of its energy needs from biomass. If it made full use of its potential, it would more than double biomass use by 2010 - while complying with good agricultural practice, safeguarding sustainable production of biomass and without significantly affecting domestic food production" (Biomass Action Plan SEC(2005) 1573).
Capturing the potential of bluegreen energy is a key contribution to attaining the EU's 20/20 renewable energy target.
However, a key characteristic of renewable energy is that in contrast to the conventional power plants and their associated continental grids renewable, are a decentralised energy form.
Transnational cooperation can play a major and cost-effective role in capitalising on the NSR's diversified but largely unaligned renewable expertise, especially in respect of the under-potential deployment of bio energy resources.
The enercoast strategy is one of applying proven supply chain management methodology and tools to the underdeveloped bio energy market in a NSR regional context. The project's focus is clearly set on a defined range of regional bio energy market initiatives and their transformation into sustainable value chains. Supply Chain Management (SCM) features an integrative approach to dealing with the planning and control of the material flows from suppliers to end-users and focuses on a network of firms interacting to deliver a product or service to the end customer, linking flows from raw material supply to final delivery.
For the effectiveness bio energy succeeding of a comprehensive approach to complete supply chains is needed to safeguard the business initiatives and defined stakeholder interests, e.g. those of energy farmers. The SSCM solution features a 3-tier focus and applies performance criteria to each stage of the bio energy supply chain from the materials, the economic stakeholder and the social-cultural perspectives.
A North Sea bio energy market network including operative bio energy supply chains,
Cross-national adoption of partner solutions via the business model,
Implementation of development agendas through commercial mobilisation of bio-energy resources for the NSR,
Business model: business optimization strategies and investment plans for bio-energy infrastructure in regions,
Bio energy supply chains analysis and mobilization strategies.
April - September 2011
In the reporting period the pursuit of the pilot optimization projects (WP6) has been backed by scientific and market studies has extended the project's scope by upgrading stakeholder initiatives and integrating these into regional energy infrastructure planning. These activities go hand in hand with the process of streamlining the pilot projects and developing business plans to drive the featured supply chain initiatives. A highly productive study tour programme has served to introduce a high level of transnational cooperation into regional bioenergy supply chain development.
The municipal approach to bioenergy is becoming increasingly relevant to the strategy of Central Denmark Region, i.e. the Regional 'Perspektivplan for 50% Renewable Energy in 2025' can be seen as an implementation of the municipal energy strategies. This will, in turn, become part of the new government's plans to invest heavily in bioenergy and cleantech jobs.
October 2010 - March 2011
Following the analysis and mobilisation phases, enerCOAST has now shifted gear to facilitate and promote a range of regional bioenergy supply chain innovations. The enercoast community has grown measurably due to intensive vertical stakeholder interaction and gained a clear transnational identity due to partner-to-partner cooperation and stakeholder interaction initiated via a study tour programme.
The project also has an influence on ongoing national initiatives, such as Kraftsamling Biogas in Sweden, a new partnership to strengthen Region Västra Götaland's position as one of the nation's leading biogas regions. 24 millions will be invested over the next three years in a new program called "Biogas West - joining forces for biogas development in Västra Götaland". At the same time the nine-year old project Biogas West will be integrated into the new program. Funding for this initiative comes from Västra Götalands region.
Innovatum Technology Park and the enerCOAST project are involved in organizing an educational workshop series that will disseminate information to biogas producers and researchers on production techniques.
April - September 2010
The activities in work package 3 "Supply Chain Mobilisation" have been completed. They included key strategic elements of the project: surveys, biomass inventories and reports, scientific assessments and feasibility studies, identification of gaps in the individual supply chains, field tests, fine-tuning of regional business models, contractual arrangements, extensive stakeholder consultations and political processing of supply chain proposals.
These efforts have served to manage the transition from the earlier supply chain analyses (WP 2) to defined regional business plans that will be the focus of work package 4 "Pilot Optimization Projects". A full account of the supply chain mobilisation activities will be published shortly in the enercoast "Mobilisation Report".
October 2009 - March 2010
Following completion of the Initiation and Analysis phases (WP1 and 2) activities in reporting period 3 concentrated on Supply Chain Mobilization (WP3), i. e. on setting the scene for the commencement of the regional supply chain projects driven by a common business approach. These activities comprised the issue of sub-contracts, commissioning of surveys and studies to close knowledge gaps in the selected supply chains, partner research activities, intensive stakeholder consultations with a view to preparing investment decisions and cooperative exchange within the partnership.
The result of the mobilisation effort is a streamlined methodology shared by all partners and the specification of a range of highly focussed regional optimization projects supported by competent regional networks. The project is on track and the regional optimization projects are underway.
April - September 2009
In reporting period 2 the project's business tool, the Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) analysis was finalised, tested and adopted by the partnership. 11 supply chains were selected and structured, each with process featuring its own set of targets, enablers and indicators, thereby paving the way for the mobilisation of multi-sectoral stakeholder resources in order to optimise the performance of the featured supply chains (Work Package 3).
Until March 2009
The project focuses on the use of biomass as a source of energy and includes mapping and analysis of the supply chain from the biomass grower at one end, to the energy producer at the other. This analysis will identify the economic, technical and other barriers in the use of biomass as an energy source. A substantiated and consolidated investment plan based on commercially viable bio-energy supply chains will be presented to enable the successful further exploitation of the region's blue-green low-carbon energy sources.
The project has set up functional communication standards and extensive bio-energy stakeholder networks in the partner regions. Stakeholder consultations have served to identify the specific innovation demands in selected bio-energy supply chains and their value chains.
The project's business model Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) has been fine-tuned to enable a series of supply chain analyses of defined bio-energy initiatives to be conducted in phase 2.
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