Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP) Joint Call 2023

Eligibility

Applicants

Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) funding is open to universities as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), industry, research and development (R&D) organizations, government research labs, and others. There are three levels of eligibility criteria and requirements that must be met: (i) CETP transnational eligibility criteria for all project consortia; (ii) Call Module requirements; and (iii) ERA national/regional requirements. See Section 4 of the CETP Joint Call 2023 Program Guide for more information.

Projects

• Project proposals require a project consortium:
  • A project consortium must be built of at least three (3) eligible independent legal entities from at least three (3) separate countries/regions participating in CETP TRI3 (see Summary below). At least two (2) of the entities must be from European Union (EU) Member States or Horizon Europe (HE) Associated Countries. Consortia with partners from other countries are welcome if these organizations are funded by sources other than the CETP.
• Projects must start before December 15, 2024 and must finish within 36 months.
• The total effort of one Project Consortium Partner in the project consortium can be maximum 60% of the total project efforts (measured in person months).
• The total effort of Project Consortium Partners from one country/region in the project consortium can be maximum 75% of the total project efforts (measured in person months).
• All focus areas listed for Call Module 4 (Carbon capture, utilisation, and storage [CCUS]), Module 5 (Hydrogen and renewable fuels), and Module 7 (Geothermal energy technologies) are eligible for the Canada/Alberta funding from ERA except acid gas injection, offshore storage, and projects with a primary focus on point-to-point transportation or sequestration elements.
• ERA funding will not be provided to projects with a primary focus on commercially proven technologies/processes, activities assessed to be business-as-usual, or to address only financial barriers.

Summary

The Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP) is a transnational initiative for joint research, technological development, and innovation (RTDI) programming to boost and accelerate the energy transition. The global funding program is open to projects in 30 participating countries. Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) is the national/regional funding agency for Canada.

The CETP Joint Call 2023 is structured into 7 thematic Transition Initiatives (TRIs) that address challenges outlined in the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA). ERA’s investment is focused on TRI3: Enabling Climate Neutrality with Storage Technologies, Renewable Fuels, and CCUS. The primary goal of the CETP TRI3 is to provide technologically cleaner solutions for storage technologies, hydrogen, and renewable fuels, as well as CCUS while also promoting RD&D and innovation projects to achieve global climate neutrality by 2050. Funding from ERA is available for projects at the technology scale-up, field pilot, commercial demonstration, or commercial implementation stages.

Funding Considerations

ERA funding is targeted for projects at the technology scale-up, field pilot, commercial demonstration, or commercial implementation stages (TRL 5-9).

ERA will match applicant contributions toward eligible expenses on a one-to-one (1:1) basis. The maximum ERA contribution to a single project will be no more than 50% of the project’s eligible expenses. ERA will not match other government funds provided directly for the proposed project (federal, provincial, or international), or future revenue associated with the outcomes of the project.

Submission Process

There is a two-stage process consisting of a Pre-Proposal (LOI) and Full Proposal, which is by invitation only. Both stages of this competition will be part of the Research Management System (RMS), and approvals will be obtained electronically. Research Funding Application Approvals (RFAA) forms are not required as approvals are collected electronically in RMS.

1. Pre-Proposal (LOI)

The Pre-Proposal, plus approval in the Research Management System (RMS) via a Pre-Award/Letter of Intent record, must be submitted to the RSO by November 17, 2023 at 12:00 pm. Please be sure to select 'Submitted for approval' (under Save & Progress) in RMS in good time to allow for approvals from your Department Head and/or ADR prior to the RSO internal deadline. Consult your department and faculty for more information on their approval processes and timelines.

Once you have received RSO approval, the consortium lead must submit the Pre-Proposal by November 22, 2023 at 6:00 am (MT) using the CETP Submission Platform.

2. Full Proposal (by invitation)

If invited, the Full Proposal, plus approval in the Research Management System (RMS) via a Pre-Award/Application record, must be submitted to the RSO by March 22, 2024 at 12:00 pm.Please be sure to select 'Submitted for approval' (under Save & Progress) in RMS in good time to allow for approvals from your Department Head and/or ADR prior to the RSO internal deadline. Consult your department and faculty for more information on their approval processes and timelines.

*Creation of a new Pre-Award/Application record in RMS is not necessary. You can automatically generate an Application record from the existing LOI record by changing the status of the LOI record to 'Invited to full application' (under Save & Progress).

Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) may require submission of a Supplemental Information document, budget sheet, and appendices via email to ERA Applications at applications@eralberta.ca.

Do not submit to the agency until RSO's approval has been granted in RMS. Once the institutional signature has been obtained, the UCalgary Principal Investigator will receive an automated message from RMS to their @ucalgary email address. The consortium lead must submit the Full Proposal by March 27, 2024 by 6:00 am (MT) using the CETP Submission Platform.

Resources

• CETP Joint Call 2023 Program Guide
• ERA Cost Guidelines
• CETP Joint Call 2023 Pre-proposal Template sample
• CETP Joint Call 2023 Webinar Recording
• CETP Joint Call 2023 Webinar Slides
• ERA Contact: Sanah Dar, sdar@eralberta.ca
• CETP contact: callmanagement@cetpartnership.eu

Overhead

15%

Pre-application deadlines

RSO internal deadline

Pre-application program deadline

Application deadlines

RSO detailed review deadline

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

NOTE: Consult your Faculty Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) regarding Faculty-specific deadlines and submission processes.

Principal Investigators: Complete a Research Management System (RMS) record, including a copy of your complete application, and submit this for approvals in RMS.

Postdocs, students, and trainees: For fellowships and externally-sponsored research training awards or opportunities, you must complete the Research Funding Application Approval (RFAA) Trainee PDF form, and submit it, along with a complete copy of the application, to Research Services at rsotrainee@ucalgary.ca. Trainees should not use RMS at this time.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via either RMS or the RFAA Trainee form, in the following order:

• Principal Investigator
• Department Head
• Faculty ADR/Dean
• Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research)

Read the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy to understand what your approval means. Please see the agency guidelines for details about which signatures are required on your application, as it may differ from internal requirements.

Late submissions: Late submissions will only be accepted in cases of medical or family emergencies, or other exceptional circumstances. If you submit your RMS record to Research Services after the internal deadline has passed, you must secure additional approvals. Please read: Late Applications Process.

For assistance, please contact:

• Katie Cupello, Research Grants Officer (Alberta government funding), katie.cupello@ucalgary.ca
• Chantal Lemire, Research Grants Officer (international foundations), chantal.lemire@ucalgary.ca
• Michael Blough, Manager, Strategic Initiatives, mdblough@ucalgary.ca