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Belfast Met leads the way in securing €9.39 million funding for energy sustainability project
An energy sustainability project led by Belfast Met has been given the green light after winning an Interreg North-West Europe funding bid for the €9.39million Gencomm Project.
Belfast Met is the first College of Further and Higher Education in Northern Ireland to secure Interreg North-West Europe Programme funding and this is one of the largest EU projects ever secured by a lead partner from Northern Ireland.
The College, as Lead Partner, is working in conjunction with 9 Universities and private companies across Europe to deliver the GENCOMM Project including: National University of Ireland Galway (ROI), University Institut National des Sciences Appliquées Rouen Normandie (France), IZES gGmbH (Germany) Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium); ENSICAEN – CNRS (France); Pure Energy Centre (Scotland) and three further NI organisations; Viridian, TK Renewables, and Williams Industrial Services. Gencomm aims to answer the energy sustainability challenges facing remote communities across North-West Europe through production and storage of renewable hydrogen.
Gencomm will develop 3 pilot facilities fuelled by Solar Power, Wind Power and Bioenergy to measure their ability to produce and store hydrogen, and its viability as a sustainable energy solution for heat, power and fuel for communities across North-West Europe.
Speaking about securing the Interreg North-West Europe Programme funding; Belfast Met Director of Development, Damian Duffy, said: “Belfast Met is delighted to secure funding from the Interreg North-West Europe Programme for this exciting energy sustainability project. Securing this project best demonstrates the contribution which FE Colleges can make to the development of applied innovation solutions working in partnership with researchers and industry.
This is the largest award of EU funding Belfast Met has ever secured and the first time a College in Northern Ireland has been awarded funds from the Interreg North-West Europe Programme.
This is testament to the strength and innovative nature of the project and the high calibre of partner organisations as we seek to work together to deliver hydrogen based solutions that will help address energy sustainability challenges to communities across North-West Europe.”
For more information on Project GENCOMM visit: www.nweurope.eu/projects/project-search/gencomm-generating-energy-secure-communities/