H2020 SME instrument – Helbio SA among the winners
Helbio S.A. is one of a few SMEs which have been selected in the latest round under phase 1 SME instrument. The participation of Helbio in the specific call made through PROMETHEUS-5 proposal (Energy efficient and environmentally friendly multi-fuel power system with CHP capability, for stand-alone applications), which aims to launch to market a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) production system operating with hydrogen and fuel cells. The specific product will have high efficiency (twice than that of conventional gensets) and nearly zero pollutant emissions.
Prometheus-5 project
PROMETHEUS-5 project proposes a highly innovative, environmentally friendly and efficient solution for power and heat generation, using hydrogen and fuel cells. Currently, the market of remote or back-up power generation is served by diesel or gasoline generators which rely on mature and relatively low cost technology. However, they offer about half of the electrical efficiency, as compared to that of the proposed system and present other drawbacks such as high operational and maintenance costs, large amounts of pollutant emissions, vibration, noise, etc. Commercialization of Helbio’s system will result in power generators having electrical efficiency twice that of the conventional ones, leading to proportionally reduced fuel consumption and proportionally reduced GHG emissions. Also, the use of alternative fuels like propane, LPG, NG and, especially, biogas, a renewable source of energy, will be introduced.
The call: SME instrument
Horizon 2020 supports Innovative Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) through a new dedicated SME instrument. The SME Instrument is divided into 3 phases covering different stages of the innovation cycle. Phase 1 aims to cover the assessment of technical feasibility and market potential of new ideas. The project will be supported by an investment of € 50,000 and the typical duration should be no longer than 6 months.
Phase 2 aims to cover R&I activities with a particular focus on demonstration activities (testing, prototype, scale-up studies, design, piloting innovative processes, products and services, validation, performance verification etc.) and market replication encouraging the involvement of end users or potential clients. Project funding should amount to no more than € 2,500,000 and the typical duration of this phase should range from 12 to 24 months.
The statistics
The results, published by the European Commission, on Friday, January 9, found Helbio S.A. to be one of the only 60 winners of the “Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for a low carbon energy system” topic of the SME-Instrument, out of 640 applications submitted from across Europe, until September 24, 2014, confirming once more the ability of the company to compete successfully at a European level (pan-european success rate 7.57%). Especially, if one considers that for all the 13 topics of the program, there were 122 participants from Greece and only 2 that managed to get funded, the importance of the success extends even further (success rate nation wide 1.64%).
Useful links
EC official press release:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=newsalert&year=2015&na=na-090115-2
The map of the winners:
http://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/horizon-2020-sme-instrument-beneficiaries
The call:
