IFRF RELOCATION – Call for Expressions of Interest to host the IFRF

In 2007 the IFRF moved from its historical location at Ijmuiden to Livorno where it has benefitted from access to the support and experimental facilities of the ENEL research department. In the meantime, circumstances have changed and the interest of utilities in combustion has decreased. Although ENEL will keep the rigs at Livorno for IFRF use and will continue to offer the IFRF office facilities there for the immediate future, ENEL is no longer in a position to provide a medium and long term commitment to operate the facilities at Livorno.

With this background, the Executive Committee wishes to identify and evaluate alternative places from which the IFRF might operate, and to consider an eventual relocation. The likelihood of this situation arising in the medium term was already foreseen at the time of the move to Livorno. The Executive believes now is the right time to invite Expressions of Interest amongst IFRF Membership and other organisations for hosting IFRF for the coming Triennial Operating Cycle(s). The draft time schedule for taking this action will be:

• Call for Expressions of Interest (EoIs) via this MNM article – April 2015
• Receipt of Expressions of Interest by end of May 2015.
• Formal decision to launch the search for an alternative location by IFRF Joint Committee on June 4^th/5^th 2015 at Freising, Germany, based on longlisted EoIs
• Request for Conceptual Proposals issued to longlisted organisations – mid June 2015
• Conceptual Proposals received from longlisted organisations – end September 2015
• IFRF Executive Committee Shortlists Conceptual Proposals – October 2015
• Information exchange to help shortlisted organisations prepare costed Business Plans– for submission by end of November 2015
• Final decision about relocation at a Special Joint Committee Meeting during or shortly after December 2015

Relocation will take place after January 2016 following a timetable to be agreed between the new host, the present host and the IFRF

Expressions of Interest should be concise (four A4 pages maximum recommended, but this may be supported by documentation/flyers/website on your organisation and its activities). In addition to a brief description of your organisation and points you wish to make, EoIs should make clear the nature of the IFRF activities which the host organisation could support. The following options can form the basis for this section of the EoI:

1. IFRF to operate with access to combustion test rigs and other research facilities owned by the host
2. IFRF to operate with access to a network of research facilities owned neither by IFRF nor the host – based around the existing but updated IFRF on-line database of European test rigs or an alternative proposed by the host (see http://www.ifrf.net/page/facilities/efri-database )
3. IFRF to operate as a Network without an in-house research team/programme

Organisations preparing EoIs may find it useful to indicate which of the following options (not in priority order) would apply to them as these will be used as criteria for eventual evaluation of Conceptual Proposals:

• IFRF Access to test facilities

• Availability of appropriate non-IFRF owned test rigs and/or modelling capabilities
• Experimental work covered by existing environmental consents/umbrellas
• Good availability of strategically important fuels and comburents

An open meeting to discuss the potential relocation of the IFRF will be arranged in association with the 18^th Members Conference of the IFRF and the next IFRF Joint Committee Meeting in Freising during the first week of June 2015. A further announcement about this will follow.

Former IFRF Director Neil Fricker has agreed to act as the communications link with the IFRF President for the EoI process. Please contact Neil on neil.fricker@ifrf.net if you need any clarification or to submit your EoI.