Frequently asked questions – National Energy Systems Modelling Call

All FAQs pertain to the National Energy Systems Modelling Call – Expression of Interest Stage

• Funding

  1. What is the call’s total funding envelope? How many projects will be selected for funding?
     
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  • The Program anticipates providing up to $1.5 million in projects per year with the total funding amount to be determined based on the quality of proposals received. The program also maintains the ability to amend the final funding amount. Please note that the project level maximum amount ($1 Million) is the same regardless of the length of the project.
  • While the maximum value is quite high, relative to the size of envelope, the Program expects that many projects will seek lesser amounts. These maximums were designed to provide the flexibility to fund outstanding, unique, and/or multi-year projects. The Program’s experience to date suggests that many activities can be carried out well below the maximum amounts.
  • In addition, proponents are expected to leverage other sources of funding. This could be from their respective organizations, partners, or as in-kind contributions.
  • Moreover, there is not an established target number of projects that will receive funding. Given the range of funding amounts – from $100,000 to $1 million per project – the number of projects funded will depend on the amount requested and timeframe by selected projects.

• Eligibility and Scope

  2. Can an organization that is the Canadian subsidiary of an internationally-based company apply?
     
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  • Yes, provided that the organization is legally registered in Canada and the majority of the project takes place in Canada.
  • The lead proponent for the project is required to have an established presence in Canada, and the majority of project activity must take place in Canada.
  • International participation will not be a deciding factor at the EOI stage. Applicants will have the opportunity to provide greater detail on international participation at the FPP stage, at which point there will be additional guidance on eligibility of international partners and activities.

  3. Can collaboration occur on a project that is being developed currently outside Canada, or with a foreign partner?
     
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  • Yes, foreign entities are eligible to act as partner organizations in your project, and some degree of eligible project activities can be executed outside of Canada. However, NRCan reserves the right to deem ineligible projects that have a majority of their activities or benefits outside of Canada.

  4. Do all partnerships need to be confirmed at the time of submission?
     
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  • The expression of interest form allows you to list your partners, even the ones that are not confirmed, and requires you to specify the current status of each partnership: identified; early discussion; negotiating agreement; or confirmed. Applicants are encouraged to identify where partnerships and/or specific funding commitments are confirmed, and to illustrate as clearly as possible their value to the project.
    
    Note that Letters of Support are required if a partnership is marked as "confirmed.”

  5. What kinds of models/modelling exercises are eligible for this proposal? What is the scope?
     
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  • There are no explicit rules on the structure or approach used to generate the required results, which must meet the following criteria, and be linked to a research question related to technological innovation:
    1. show trajectories to net zero,
    2. produce national, economy wide GHG / energy results consistent with the net zero objective.
  • In practice, this means studies using models that do not produce the above results will likely need to link to additional models or build additional modelling infrastructure to support generating these. Such activities are eligible for funding as model development.
  • In addition, the scope of your project may necessitate activities in multiple target areas:
    1. If you apply for model development, you are, by definition, applying to develop a dataset and conduct a modelling exercise using this infrastructure.
    2. If you apply for dataset development, you are, by definition, applying to conduct a modelling exercise using that dataset.
    3. If you applying to do a modelling exercise, you are not eligible for funding to implement major model or dataset upgrades.
  • Projects may focus on specific aspects of the energy system (e.g., buildings, electricity, industrial subsector, regions, technologies), but must fulfill the requirements outlined above. Subnational or technology specific results can be provided and will enhance the project as long as these are internally consistent with national scenarios.
  • The key point is that the modelling work should address key gaps in current models in reflecting the role of one or multiple technologies and be linked directly to a research question related to technological innovation.

  6. Which category of projects would require an open-source license? Do open-source models have priority/ preference over proprietary models?
     
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  • There is no requirement to use open-source tools, however preference will be given to models/ modelling systems and datasets that follow open-source principles as these will be assumed to produce greater public value, all other things equal.

  7. Why is the MIT license suggested as the open-source license to use?
     
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  • The MIT license is a widely used and highly permissive license used frequently in the software development community. You may choose to use another open-source license but will need to indicate the license name and to provide rationale in using the alternative. The direct use of the MIT license would make it clear the project deliverables using it meet a rigorous standard of permissiveness and transparency

  8. Who will be the owner of the new energy system model / dataset?
     
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  • Projects are not required to have generated IP prior to applying; applicants may continue to work on IP during the course of the project. Projects can use IP that already exists from outside of Canada, as long as it is licensed to the applicant for use in Canada. A successful contribution agreement with NRCan will require that all IP that arises over the course of a project be vest in, or be licensed to, the proponent.

• Application Process

  9. Can applicants submit more than one application? What if my project timeline spans multiple phases?
     
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  • Applicants can submit more than one application, provided that each application is for a distinct project.
  • All submissions must meet the criteria outlined above – all these activities must be applied for under a single project.
  • If the project is considered the first of multiple phases likely to go beyond the 3-year project maximum, that can be indicated, but it does not exempt the project from program requirements (that is, it is not acceptable to have “model development” as the “first phase” in a full project, and then plan to submit later for dataset development and/or modelling exercises.)

  10. Does my organization need to contribute funds to the project? What is an in-kind contribution? Can an in-kind contribution be included in the total project cost? What are the stacking limits to funding?
      
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  • Collaboration and leveraging are strongly encouraged, but not required, for all project components, and this will be a key consideration during full project proposal evaluation.
  • An in-kind expenditure represents a cash-equivalent contribution to the project in the form of a valuable good, service or other support, for which no cash is exchanged, but that is essential to the project and that would have to be purchased by the project proponent on the open market, or through negotiation with the provider, if it were not provided by the project proponent.
  • As noted in Sections 4.2 and 9 of the Applicants’ Guide, in-kind support must be verifiable, directly support the project, and fall into the same cost categories as identified for Eligible Expenditures. All in-kind expenditures are ineligible for reimbursement by NRCan but can be included in the total project costs as long as they meet the criteria outlined in Applicant Guide.
  • Stacking of funding (total government support for a project) will be supported to a maximum of 100% of eligible expenditures. However, applicants will need to verify any stacking limits on other funding programs to which they may have also applied.

  11. Does the program credit the proponent or reimburse them for project expenditures?
      
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  • Contribution agreements are based on a reimbursement model – the proponent will spend the money up front and is reimbursed by the program.

  12. Can the review committee confirm a part of the requested funds?
      
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  • All final funding decisions are subject to the due diligence process and are not final until the signing of the contribution agreement.

  13. Whom should applicants contact if there are any difficulties applying through the online portal? Can an applicant request a meeting with NRCan to discuss specific questions about their EOI?
      
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  • If you encounter any problems applying or you’re in need of technical assistance, please email the Office of Energy Research & Development team at oerdportal-portailbrde@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca.
  • Due to the number of inquiries received and in the interest of fairness, the program is not accepting meetings with individual applicants. Please send your questions by email to the program mailbox at eipmodelling-piemodelisation@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca.
  • For more specifics on the call, the presentation recording of the Information Session provides an overview of the call. Please find a recording of the English Session here and the French Session here.