EU’s INDY Project Looks to Reduce Field Camp Reliance on Fossil Fuels 

Funded by the European Defence Fund (EDF), the Energy INDependent and Efficient Deployable MilitarY Camps (INDY) project was launched on 14 February 2023, with companies from 11 EU countries (Austria, Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia and Spain) participating.

According to the EU fact sheet, the INDY project aims to develop a strategic roadmap for future energy-independent and -efficient military camps based on a paradigm shift in energy production, conversion, storage, transport, distribution and end use. The project builds on military and civilian EU and national projects, such as the EU’s Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) Energy Operational Function (EOF) project.

Co-ordinated by the Slovenian Research and Development Centre for Electrical Machines (TECES), 20 companies and scientific institutes have joined the consortium selected by the EU to implement the project, with Germany’s Rheinmetall among the notable participants. The strategic roadmap is to be developed within 26 months. The EU intends to finance the estimated costs of EUR 14.2 M through the EDF.

At present, field camps are almost completely dependent on fossil fuels, meaning that a reduction in the use of fossil fuels can be achieved through new technological approaches in this area, according to a Rheinmetall explanation of the study. Accordingly, the INDY study results will provide a basis for the development and use of new energy sources, the control of resources and the optimisation of the requirements of military operational camps by the end of 2024.

Lars Hoffmann