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Grant Details

Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

This grant aims to develop and integrate innovative, open-source tools and services to manage and empower energy communities. Its core objective is to facilitate local energy trading, increase renewable energy use, enhance data security, and foster cross-sectoral synergies. - Target recipients: Energy communities, smart appliance manufacturers, home energy device manufacturers, home and building energy management system developers, Distribution System Operators (DSOs), and aggregators. - Organizational size: Not explicitly defined, but the types of organizations mentioned can range from SMEs to large enterprises. - SECTOR-SPECIFIC: Focuses on the 'ENERGY' and 'TECHNOLOGY' sectors, particularly smart grids, IoT, and community energy initiatives. - Geographic scope: Solutions must be tested in at least three different European countries. Participation is generally open to EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries. - Key filtering criteria: Projects must develop open-source solutions, integrate with existing energy infrastructure, and actively involve diverse stakeholders from the energy community ecosystem. - Grant frequency: This topic is part of the multi-annual Horizon Europe Work Programme, indicating a recurring focus on these themes, though this specific call is for the 2026 timeframe.

Financial Structure

  • Total available budget for this specific topic (HORIZON-CL5-2026-02-D3-20): 20,000,000 EUR.
  • Expected number of grants: 2 projects.
  • Minimum grant amount per project: 10,000,000 EUR.
  • Maximum grant amount per project: 10,000,000 EUR.
  • Currency: EUR.
  • Funding Rate: Not explicitly stated in the provided text. For Horizon Europe Innovation Actions, the typical funding rate is 70% of eligible costs for for-profit entities and 100% for non-profit entities. Refer to Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes for precise details.
  • Eligible and Ineligible Costs: Not detailed in the provided text, but governed by standard Horizon Europe rules outlined in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
  • Payment Schedule and Reporting: Not detailed in this document, but subject to standard Horizon Europe Grant Agreement procedures and financial reporting requirements.

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible Organizations
  • Any legal entity typically eligible for Horizon Europe funding, including private companies (e.g., manufacturers, developers, aggregators), research organisations, public bodies, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
  • Specific types of participants expected to benefit and directly participate include: energy communities, smart appliance manufacturers, home energy device manufacturers, home and building energy management system developers, Distribution System Operators (DSOs), and aggregators.
Geographic Requirements
  • Organizations from EU Member States and countries associated with Horizon Europe are generally eligible to apply.
  • Project solutions must be tested and demonstrated within at least three energy communities located in different European countries.
Specific Qualifications and Restrictions
  • Transmission System Operators (TSOs) or Distribution System Operators (DSOs) involved in the project are prohibited from owning, developing, managing, or operating energy storage facilities or recharging points for electric vehicles, in compliance with Articles 33, 36, and 54 of Directive (EU) 2019/944.
  • The DSO's role in facilitating peer-to-peer trading must not prejudice the rules outlined in Article 35 of Directive (EU) 2019/944.
  • Projects are subject to specific restrictions concerning the protection of European communication networks.
Consortium Requirements
  • A consortium approach is required, bringing together a diverse range of stakeholders as outlined above.
  • The project must include the effective contribution and involvement of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines and experts to ensure a meaningful societal impact.

Application Process

Application Deadlines and Opening
  • Application Submission Deadline: 2026-02-17 00:00:00+0000 (Brussels time).
  • Planned Opening Date for Submissions: 2025-09-16.
  • Submission Procedure: Single-stage.
Required Documentation and Submission
  • Application forms (Part B) must adhere to the page limits and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
  • The application form specific to this call will be available in the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.
  • Applicants will use the standard Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Innovation Actions (IA) application form templates.
Evaluation and Selection Process
  • Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are detailed in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
  • The submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
  • An indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement preparation is outlined in Annex F.
Application Assistance and Support
  • Comprehensive guidance is available through the HE Programme Guide and Model Grant Agreements.
  • Support is provided via the EU Grants Annotated Model Grant Agreement (AGA), Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, and a dedicated FAQ section.
  • National Contact Points (NCPs) offer practical information and assistance.
  • The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) provides advice, especially for SMEs, on EU research funding.
  • An IT Helpdesk is available for technical issues related to the submission system.
  • The European IPR Helpdesk assists with intellectual property concerns.
  • CEN-CENELEC and ETSI Research Helpdesks advise on standardisation in project proposals.
  • A Partner Search tool is available to help find consortium partners.
Post-Award Requirements
  • Selected projects are expected to contribute to the BRIDGE initiative and actively participate in its activities.
  • Additional contributions to the Alliance for Internet of Things Innovation (AIOTI) and other relevant digital project clusters or coordinating actions may be considered where relevant.

Evaluation Criteria

General Evaluation Criteria (Standard Horizon Europe Innovation Action)
  • Excellence: Assesses the clarity of objectives, soundness of methodology, ambition of the proposed innovation, and the extent of trans-disciplinary and SSH integration.
  • Impact: Evaluates the project's potential to contribute significantly to the expected outcomes, the credibility of measures for exploitation and dissemination of results, and the overall communication plan.
  • Quality and Efficiency of the Implementation: Examines the coherence and effectiveness of the proposed work plan, the competence and complementarity of the consortium members, and the appropriate allocation of resources.
Topic-Specific Scoring Factors
  • Projects are expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes:
    • Integration of home and building assets using common IoT standards and SGAM architecture.
    • Facilitation of local energy trading and distributed grid services.
    • Enhancement of energy communities' integration into European grids and increase of renewable energy share.
    • Increased security of data exchange for prosumers and customer resources.
    • Synergies using a cross-sectoral approach (electricity, gas, mobility, heating/cooling).
    • Empowerment of local governments and intermediaries, strengthening community energy policies.
  • Demonstration sites must cover complex and technologically advanced energy communities, each located within the range of neighboring secondary substations, with specific characteristics such as near-autarky local energy generation, diverse energy vectors, significant storage facilities, and flexible topology.
  • Developed solutions should be open for off-shelf integration and adhere to common communication and data standards, preferably using ETSI SAREF ontologies and following the IEC TR 63097 Smart Grid Roadmap.
  • The inclusion and effective contribution of SSH disciplines and experts are explicitly required to enhance the societal impact of research activities, indicating this will be a significant scoring factor.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory and Legal Compliance
  • Projects must ensure follow-up and implementation of EU policy measures, including conducting quality assessments and introducing national community energy targets.
  • Strict compliance with specific articles of Directive (EU) 2019/944 (Articles 33, 35, 36, 54) is required, particularly for DSOs/TSOs involved in energy storage or peer-to-peer trading.
  • Projects are subject to existing restrictions for the protection of European communication networks.
Technical Standards and Specifications
  • Development of solutions must adhere to common Internet of Things (IoT) communication standards for smart homes.
  • Use of SGAM architecture and data models (e.g., IEC CIM) for load, generation, and storage devices is required.
  • Solutions should be open for off-shelf integration using common communication and data standards.
  • Semantic interoperability, as enabled by ETSI SAREF ontologies, is preferred.
  • Projects must follow the IEC TR 63097 Smart Grid Roadmap.
Data Protection and Security
  • A key expected outcome is to increase the security of data exchange for prosumer and customer resources.
  • Projects must develop tailored security solutions for private and public communication networks used by IoT applications and devices across various energy carriers.
Ethical and Social Considerations
  • The topic explicitly requires the effective contribution of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines and the active involvement of SSH experts and institutions. This is to produce meaningful effects and enhance societal impact.
Demonstration and Validation Requirements
  • The developed solutions must be tested within at least three energy communities from different European countries.
  • These demonstration sites should be complex, technologically advanced, and possess specific characteristics (e.g., located near secondary substations, with a variety of customers/prosumers, close-to-autarky local energy generation, diverse energy vectors, significant storage, and flexible topology).
  • The secondary substations at demonstration sites should already be equipped with advanced monitoring and control systems.
  • Close collaboration between the selected energy communities and similar communities is encouraged to maximize replication potential.
Cross-Cutting Priorities
  • This grant aligns with cross-cutting priorities of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH), Digital Agenda, and RePowerEU initiatives.

Grant Details

energy communities smart homes internet of things iot smart grids renewable energy local energy trading data security cross-sectoral energy electricity gas mobility heating cooling open-source tools forecasting prediction data analysis ai artificial intelligence prosumers electric vehicles ev dso distribution system operators tso transmission system operators aggregators sgam iec cim etsi saref iec tr 63097 bridge initiative aioti alliance for internet of things inno ssh social sciences and humanities digital agenda repowereu energy management systems european energy policy decentralised energy co-owned energy smart appliances energy storage system-wide balancing frequency regulation market operators innovation actions horizon europe europe european union eu funding community energy pilot projects commercialization capacity building digital tools
Innovative tools and services to manage and empower energy communities
48346133TOPICSen
Horizon Europe - Cluster 5
ENTERPRISE NGO PUBLIC UNIVERSITY OTHER
AT BE BG HR CY CZ DK EE FI FR DE GR HU IE IT LV LT LU MT NL PL PT RO SK SI ES SE
ENERGY TECHNOLOGY
DEVELOPMENT PILOT_PROJECTS INNOVATION_COMMERCIALIZATION
OTHER
SDG7 SDG9 SDG11 SDG13 SDG17
FUNDING RESEARCH_DEVELOPMENT PILOT_PROJECTS INNOVATION_COMMERCIALIZATION CAPACITY_BUILDING OPERATIONAL_SUPPORT
20000000.00
10000000.00
10000000.00
EUR
None
Feb. 17, 2026, midnight
None