SuperNode Ltd
SN
SuperNode is a global technology company that develops superconducting cable systems for bulk power transmission.
ID: 094663852976-33
Lobbying Activity
Response to European Innovation Act
3 Oct 2025
SuperNode, is a global technology development company specialising in next generation superconducting cable systems. We design and deliver cutting-edge, cryostats and superconducting cable systems for bulk electricity transmission over long distances, within cities, and for industrial applications, including data centres. Conventional transmission cables are limited in terms of current levels which in turn limit their power transfer capability. Our cable can carry 5-10x more energy in a single line than conventional copper or aluminium electricity transmission technology. Networks based upon superconducting cable systems can move larger quantities of power over longer distances or through densely populated urban areas, with smaller and less obtrusive infrastructure, using fewer raw material, without electrical losses and at significantly lower voltages. As a company determined to advance electricity transmission and distribution technology, to support Europes electrification and achieving a real internal market in electricity by developing cutting-edge new, innovative products, SuperNode is highly dependent on the EU framework conditions. We look forward to support the Commissions important initiatives in this area. European funders are reluctant to fund pre-revenue technology start-ups, especially when operating in a rigid sector with low appetite for innovation such as that of electricity transmission and distribution. We see our main competitors in the US finding it easier to obtain funding, despite having a less developed portfolio of products and IPR. They are also able to secure more funding for manufacturing than their EU counterparts. The Commissions Clean Transition Dialogue on Energy Infrastructure on 27 February 2024 and the stocktaking that followed, rightly identified many of the hurdles faced by innovative grid technology companies such as SuperNode. It emphasised a need for simplification of the rules for the Innovation Fund and increasing support for green scale-ups while it considered access to EU funds to be complex and lengthy due to different eligibility criteria, application procedures, and red tape. The eligibility criteria of some calls, especially associated with past and current EU ETS Innovation Fund calls, inadvertently disqualifies enabling technologies such as innovative grid technologies, as pointed out by the European Parliament in its 19/6 2025 resolution - electricity Grids: The Backbone of the EU Energy System. It "regrets also that the evaluation criteria applied to the assessment of projects submitted in response to the EU Innovation Funds calls for proposals prevent funding for the demonstration and manufacturing of grid technologies". The Parliament's resolution also "calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that a proportionate amount of such funding is also spent on grid investment". SuperNode strongly supports those recommendations of the European Parliament. Grid technologies are recognised as innovative net-zero technologies in the EU Net Zero Industry Act. Consequently, Net-zero regulatory sandboxes for innovative net-zero technologies should be rigorously applied to grid technology innovation in accordance with the regulation to provide for controlled real-world environment, under a specific plan, developed and monitored by a competent authority. When it comes to grid technologies, frameworks should be developed to enable controlled real-world environments with participation of system operators energy regulators and technology providers. They should allow for the development, testing, and validation of cutting-edge grid technologies, accelerating their deployment and ease their integration into the electricity systems of Europe. Moreover, mechanisms that ensures that the test results in one jurisdiction (operating system) can be shared with other distribution and system operators, to avoid having to perform the same test or demonstration in each system.
Read full responseResponse to Evaluation on the operation of the Innovation Fund - 2025
8 Jun 2025
The current GHG avoidance criteria of the Innovation Fund are incompatible with enabling technologies such as innovative grid technologies, including superconducting cable technologies for bulk electricity transmission and distribution. Through CurrENT, the association of Innovative Grid technologies, and individually as Supernode, we have been in dialogue with the European Commission about Innovation Fund compatibility over the past four years . The main problem with the Innovation Fund from our perspective, is that enabling technologies such as innovative grid technology do not fit the funding criteria applied, which put heavy weight on GHG reductions. This is unfortunate, especially given the fact that the recent changes to the delegated Act on the Innovation Fund now makes it possible for the Commission to make sector specific calls or sector specific topics within a sector with adjusted award criteria or requirements in accordance with Article 11,3 of the revised delegated act from November 2023. Of the EUR 3.1 billion allocated since 2020, 74% of total funding has gone to Hydrogen (24%) and CCUS (50%) Projects, while Renewables and Storage has only received a combined 18 % of funding. No (innovative) transmission technology funding has ever been allocated for demonstration or manufacturing projects under the Innovation fund. From our perspective, there is an urgent need to adjust the evaluation criteria for electricity transmission. CurrENT (and SuperNode) have called for the Commission to publish sector specific calls for innovative electricity transmission technologies with adjusted evaluation criteria that better fits enabling technologies such as grid technology. Such adjusted evaluation criteria could include full life cycle emissions including from materials employed in the technology; raw material use per GWkm; contribution to the Energy Efficiency First principle. This would all be within the scope of the revised Delegated Act which suggests criteria could be a projects ability to address multiple environmental impacts and its contribution to the EUs zero pollution and circularity objectives (article 11 (d)). The evaluation criteria in their current form especially on GHG avoidance are not compatible with demonstration or manufacturing projects for innovative electricity cable technology such as the next generation of superconducting cable systems. This continues to put grid innovation and other enabling technologies at a disadvantage to carbon emitting technologies with vast emission reduction potentials. One of the most obvious barriers for innovative electricity transmission technology is that we are not allowed to include greenhouse gas emission savings from consuming significantly less raw materials than conventional copper and aluminium cables. Europe is still a world leader in superconducting cables for electricity transmission (including Nexans and NKT). However, with our assessment of the innovation Fund 2023 call, it is clear that European companies competitors in the United States including the company Veir, which is backed by Bill Gates venture firm Breakthough Energy Ventures - by now have a significant advantage over European companies. Making the Innovation Fund fit for innovative grid technologies, including the next generation of superconducting power transmission technology, would complement the objectives set out in the Commissions recent EU Action Plan for Grids, which correctly points out that there are insufficient incentives for the uptake of smart grid, network efficiency and innovative technologies and that there should be an increase of visibility for () innovative solutions for smart grids and better network efficiency, such as dynamic line rating (DLR), high-temperature superconductor (HTS) cables ().
Read full responseResponse to EU Start-up and Scale-up Strategy
17 Mar 2025
Grid technologies are enabling technologies, which often adds additional complexity to the startup and scaleup framework needed, due to the regulated nature of the electricity sector. Often there are no incentives for distribution and transmission system operators to demonstrate and apply innovative technologies, even those that can demonstrate positive economic, environmental and circularity benefits. Moreover, It is a widespread perception that decarbonisation and electrification of Europes energy supply is merely a matter of better planning and accelerating the pace of grid buildout. Reality is that without transformative innovation in transmission technology, the EU risks falling short of its climate and energy independence ambitions and fail on its objective of providing more affordable energy to its households and businesses, keeping Europe at a competitive disadvantage.
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