Deadline Date: September 15, 2026
The European Commission is accepting grant applications to secure the EU as an attractive location for manufacturing, including for energy-intensive industries, and to promote clean tech and new circular business models in order to meet Europe’s ambitious decarbonisation and climate neutrality and biodiversity preservation targets.
The focus of this opportunity is on strengthening the competitiveness, sustainability (including biodiversity) and resilience of an innovative clean tech solution by significantly increasing its circular material use rate based on a sound and realistic baseline, reducing the levelized cost of energy delivered to end-users including production, distribution and storage costs based on a sound and realistic baseline and considering different geographic scenarios, contributing to Europe’s industrial leadership and competitiveness in line with the objectives of the Net-Zero Industry Act for the EU manufacturing capacity of net-zero technologies, bringing innovative clean tech solutions to full technological maturity and close to market-readiness to accelerate market deployment and integration in key industrial sectors, integrated net-zero emissions energy systems, enhanced zero-emission power technologies, and storage technologies, renewable fuels and carbon capture and utilisation enabling climate neutrality.
This initiative is situated within the broader Clean Industrial Deal, which aims to secure the European Union as an attractive location for manufacturing, including energy-intensive industries, while promoting clean technologies and new circular business models. The action supports competitive decarbonisation of EU industry and the production of clean technologies in the EU, requiring a significant increase in electrification across energy systems and end-use sectors of the European economy. The total indicative budget for this Horizon Innovation Action is EUR 150 million, with individual project contributions expected to range between EUR 15 million and EUR 25 million.
Proposals are expected to address one main clean tech area, while allowing for integrated approaches across multiple areas where relevant. Applicants are free to determine the specific value chain they wish to strengthen, ensuring alignment with clean tech suppliers, energy users such as manufacturing, energy and transport sectors, and other relevant stakeholders to support a sound business case.
Projects may also address step-change advancements in network and infrastructure deployment to facilitate scale-up across trans-European energy and transport networks, including electricity, heat, gas, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, batteries and refuelling networks. The application of advanced innovative materials, connected process engineering, scale-up, resource efficiency, circularity and recycling can be included as part of the selected value chain, with attention given to avoiding negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems.
Consortia are expected to demonstrate strong industrial leadership with a clear pathway to deployment after project completion. Projects should be industry driven, involve a manageable number of participants, encourage the participation of SMEs, and seek coherence with the Strategic Energy Technology Plan and relevant industrial initiatives. Proposals should also demonstrate measurable impacts on competitiveness and greenhouse gas emission reductions, while supporting the objectives of the Clean Industrial Deal.
For more information, visit European Commission.
