Naval hybrid propulsion and power systems

The European Defence Fund (EDF) has initiated a call for proposals titled "Naval hybrid propulsion and power systems," aiming to enhance sustainable energy solutions for military naval vessels while supporting the EU's carbon neutrality target by 2050. This funding opportunity is a part of the EDF 2025 and focuses specifically on modular hybrid propulsion systems and related technologies.

Eligible applicants must form a consortium of at least two independent entities from EU Member States or EDF-associated countries, including Norway. This consortium can consist of a variety of legal entities such as defense companies, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), large enterprises, and research institutions. The project must adhere to the principles of not being controlled by entities from non-EU regions.

The funding type is designated as lump sum grants, with a total indicative budget of EUR 20 million allocated for this call. The grant aims to address various technological challenges associated with carbon-neutral fuels, including improving their energy density and safety for frontline naval applications.

Applications will be accepted through a single-stage open call process, with the deadline for submissions set for October 16, 2025. The call encourages the development of innovative naval propulsion systems by integrating advanced technologies such as electrical propulsion systems, direct current (DC) power systems, fuel cells, and AI controllers for optimized performance. Particularly, projects should focus on creating simulations, prototypes, and methodologies for these advanced systems, emphasizing a significant integration of civilian technological advancements into defense applications.

While specific success rates and co-funding requirements are not detailed, it is generally expected that co-funding might be required in line with EDF's usual practices. The proposal development should align closely with operational requirements relevant to military effectiveness, sustainability, and practical application.

In summary, this grant aims to uplift the capabilities of naval vessel propulsion through innovative energy solutions, supporting a dual goal of environmental sustainability and military proficiency, while fostering collaborative research efforts across EU member states and associated nations.

This is a call for proposals under the European Defence Fund (EDF), specifically targeting spin-in research actions implemented via lump sum grants. The call, designated as EDF-2025-LS-RA-SI-ENERENV-NH2PS-STEP, seeks to foster the adoption of commercial high-tech components in naval hybrid propulsion and power systems, aligning with the EU's carbon neutrality goal by 2050. The total budget allocated for this topic is 20,000,000 EUR. The call adopts a single-stage submission model, with the opening date set for February 18, 2025, and a deadline of October 16, 2025, at 17:00 Brussels time.

The primary objective is to address the limitations of current carbon-neutral fuels like hydrogen and ammonia for frontline naval vessels due to their energy density, safety, and toxicity. The call aims to reduce the impact of sustainable fuels on naval propulsion and electrical power systems, increase the energy efficiency of propulsion and power plants, and leverage commercially developed technologies such as electrical propulsion systems, SiC based power electronics, DC power systems, fuel cells, and energy-dense storage devices.

The scope of the call requires proposals to develop a joint digital simulation environment, utilize dislocated test facilities across Europe, and develop, prototype, and demonstrate an integrated DC power system architecture with fault protection, control strategies, and components. Furthermore, proposals should also develop, prototype, and demonstrate power sources, such as high-speed dual-fuel combustion engines, gas turbines on sustainable fuels, fuel cells and batteries. The call also encourages the development of AI controllers for optimizing DC architecture behavior.

Eligible activities include studies, design, and activities that aim to create and improve knowledge and technologies. Mandatory activities encompass feasibility studies and the design of defense products and technologies, including partial tests for risk reduction. System prototyping, testing, qualification, certification, and development of technologies increasing efficiency across the life cycle of defense products are not eligible as mandatory activities.

Proposals should cover tasks such as conducting research studies on novel concepts for propulsion and energy systems, studying and simulating DC-grid behavior in various fault conditions, studying and investigating possible shore connection systems, simulating and demonstrating different energy conversion methods, analyzing the logistic support chain of alternative fuel challenges, and analyzing the environmental impact via Life Cycle Assessment. Design tasks include adapting and demonstrating power sources for military purposes, developing innovative designs for complete propulsion and energy systems, investigating dual/multi fuel high speed diesel engines, designing and demonstrating novel power dense converter technology and DC system architectures, and designing and demonstrating advanced control strategies and integrated power system architectures.

Additional tasks include identifying criticalities regarding materials’ supply, investigating DC LV/HV ground faults, investigating personnel safety for LV/HV DC grid, investigating the hazards imposed by alternative fuels, and gaining knowledge of the power layer and data layer integration in complex onboard DC power systems. Proposals may also cover the integration of super-capacitors and/or flywheels and gaining knowledge of the risks in the cyber domain.

The proposed products and technologies should meet functional requirements related to performance criteria, acceleration and deceleration behavior, weight and volume reduction, signatures, safety, range and autonomy, exhaust gasses, energy efficiency, life cycle cost, shock resistance, manning requirement, and modularity.

The call emphasizes the need for synergies and complementarity with civilian sector activities and requires adherence to specific admissibility conditions, eligibility criteria, and financial and operational capacity. The evaluation process involves submission and evaluation processes, award criteria, scoring and thresholds, and an indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement. Legal and financial set-up of the grants are also specified.

Applicants are required to use the standard application form, detailed budget table, participant information, list of infrastructure, actual indirect cost methodology declaration, ownership control declaration, and PRS declaration. Model Grant Agreements, the EDF Annual Work Programme, EDF Regulation 2021/697, EDF Programme Security Instruction, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, Rules for Legal Entity Validation, and other relevant documents are provided for reference.

This European Defence Fund call aims to modernize naval vessel propulsion and power systems by integrating advanced commercial technologies, promoting energy efficiency, reducing environmental impact, and enhancing military performance. It encourages collaborative projects that bridge the gap between civilian innovation and military application, contributing to the EU's carbon neutrality goals and the operational effectiveness of its naval forces. The call seeks to fund projects that can design, simulate, prototype, and demonstrate innovative solutions for hybrid propulsion and DC power systems, focusing on modularity, scalability, and resilience.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated, but based on the nature of the European Defence Fund (EDF) and the call's focus on defense-related technologies, eligible applicants likely include: SMEs, large enterprises, research institutes, universities, and other relevant organizations established in eligible countries. Public and private entities are both likely eligible.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically an EDF Lump Sum Grant (EDF-LS).

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity requires a consortium of multiple applicants.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is tied to the EDF eligible countries, as stated in section 6 of the call document. This typically includes EU Member States and potentially associated countries like Norway.

Target Sector: The target sector is defense, specifically focusing on naval vessel technology, clean technologies, energy, and cybersecurity. More specifically, the call targets: Naval hybrid propulsion and power systems, clean technologies, energy conversion systems, electrical propulsion systems, power electronics, DC power systems, fuel cells, energy-dense storage devices, AI controllers, cybersecurity.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned in the provided text, but it refers to Europe as a region where dislocated test facilities are located. The eligible countries are defined in section 6 of the call document, which generally includes EU member states and associated countries.

Project Stage: The project stage spans from research and design to prototyping and demonstration. The call explicitly mentions technology demonstrators at TRL 6 as eligible activities within the design phase.

Funding Amount: The budget for the topic is EUR 20,000,000.

Application Type: The application type is a single-stage open call.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant.

Application Stages: The application process is single-stage.

Success Rates: The indicative number of grants is not specified in the provided text, so the success rate cannot be determined.

Co-funding Requirement: The need for co-financing is not explicitly mentioned in the provided text.

Summary:

This European Defence Fund (EDF) call, titled "Naval hybrid propulsion and power systems," aims to accelerate the adoption of commercial high-tech components in naval vessel propulsion and power systems, contributing to the EU's carbon neutrality goal by 2050. The call focuses on "spin-in" research actions, meaning it seeks to integrate technologies and knowledge from the civilian sector into defense applications. The call specifically targets the design of prototypes, testbeds, and architectures for future modular and hybrid propulsion systems, hybrid DC power systems, and their components for military naval applications.

The call encourages the development of a joint digital simulation environment, methodologies for utilizing dislocated test facilities across Europe, and the prototyping and demonstration of integrated DC power system architectures and power sources like dual-fuel combustion engines, gas turbines on sustainable fuels, fuel cells, and batteries. AI controllers for optimizing DC architecture behavior are also within the scope.

Eligible activities include studies, design, and generating and integrating knowledge. System prototyping, testing, qualification, certification, and development of technologies increasing efficiency across the life cycle of defence products and technologies are not eligible. The call emphasizes the need for synergies with civilian sector activities and adherence to functional requirements related to performance, signatures, safety, range, emissions, efficiency, life cycle cost, shock resistance, modularity, and component lifecycles.

The call is a single-stage application process with a deadline of October 16, 2025. The funding is provided as a lump sum grant, with a total budget of EUR 20,000,000 available for the topic. The call is open for submission as of February 18, 2025.