Deadline Date: September 15, 2026
The PowerUp NetZero Open Call for Innovation Projects provides financial support to SMEs and start-ups developing and adopting innovative net-zero technologies and solution.
The call focuses on solar energy, battery and energy storage, hydrogen technologies, sustainable biogas and biomethane, carbon capture and storage (CCS), environmentally friendly product development, net-zero solutions and services, and pilot or demonstration actions.
The PowerUp NetZero Open Call supports SMEs and start-ups working together to implement innovative projects that improve net-zero technologies and solutions within their processes, products, or services. The call expects a high level of innovation and aims to support activities addressing technical risks linked to the demonstration of new technologies and solutions.
Supported projects may focus on optimising technology processes and operational parameters or improving the characteristics of products and solutions. Innovation projects should demonstrate a net-zero technology or solution in an operational or virtual and industrially relevant environment at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6-7, without requiring large-scale demonstration or commercial production at this stage.
PowerUp NetZero has allocated EUR 1,615,000 to support innovation projects, providing financial support for at least 14 projects. The funding contribution per project proposal ranges from EUR 80,000 to EUR 120,000.
Projects must be submitted by consortia consisting of at least two and no more than three companies. Eligible applicants must be consortia of SMEs, including start-ups that qualify as SMEs, established in an EU Member State or a country participating in the Single Market Programme (SMP) at the time of the call launch.
Applicants must meet SME requirements, including having fewer than 250 employees and either an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million. Applicants, including start-ups, must also have at least one closed and validated financial year and must be established in an eligible country under the call.
For more information, visit Piedmont Innova Foundation.
