On the 23rd of March 2015, the Board of Nordic Energy Research announced the 10 applications invited to the full proposal stage for the NOK 80 million Nordic Flagship Projects call for proposals.

96 pre-proposals were submitted with the vast majority being of very high quality. The total funding applied for exceeded NOK 2,2 billion, making this the most competitive call in Nordic Energy Research’s 30 year history.

The large number of Nordic applicants involved, and the amont of funding applied for is telling for both the great interest and urgent need for Nordic cooperative research in energy system transition. It also means that regrettably, top class research initiatives had to be turned away due to the limited Nordic funding available.

The 10 applications still in the race for the NOK 80 million cover a broad range of key issues to the Nordic region, involve cutting edge joint Nordic research environments and have the potential to provide crucial input to Nordic and international energy system transition.

The thematic areas of these multidisciplinary applications cover, but are not limited to, energy storage, biofuels, carbon capture and storage, governance issues, energy system modelling and transport.

The deadline for full proposals is the 12th of May.

The full proposals will then be submitted to full international peer-review. Nordic Energy Research’s board will then make the final decision on which 3-4 Flagships that will receive funding from Nordic Energy Research, at the end of June 2015. Projects will begin in the second half of 2015.