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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

This grant aims to significantly increase the flexibility, energy and resource efficiency, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in energy-intensive production processes. It seeks to enable these industries to promptly and frequently adapt to variations in renewable energy supply. The core objective is to contribute to the EU's climate neutrality goals and boost the industrial decarbonisation technologies supply chain in Europe. - Target recipient type: Legal entities involved in energy-intensive industries. - Target recipient size: Not explicitly defined by employee count, but the substantial funding suggests organizations with significant capacity for large-scale industrial demonstration projects, likely larger enterprises or consortia. - SECTOR-SPECIFIC - Geographic scope: Legal entities established in EU Member States and countries associated with Horizon Europe. Legal entities established in China are NOT eligible for Innovation Actions. - Key filtering criteria: Projects must focus on redesigning energy-intensive industrial processes, improving flexibility and resource efficiency, reducing GHG emissions, demonstrating at TRL 6-7, and providing a strong business case for industrialisation. - Grant frequency: This is a specific call within the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025, part of a recurring program.

Financial Structure

Grant type: Innovation Action (IA), Horizon Action Grant Budget-Based.
Total budget for this topic (HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-TWIN-TRANSITION-32): EUR 25,000,000.
Expected number of grants: 3.
Minimum contribution per grant: EUR 8,000,000.
Maximum contribution per grant: EUR 10,000,000.
Currency: EUR.
Co-financing requirements: Not specified as a fixed percentage, but a credible initial exploitation strategy and business plan are required, indicating possible private and public funding sources (e.g., Innovation Fund, InvestEU, cohesion policy funds) for future deployment.

Eligibility Requirements

Organizational Type and Status

Eligible organizations include legal entities from EU Member States and Associated Countries.
Consortia are highly expected and typical for Innovation Actions of this scale.
Legal entities established in China are NOT eligible to participate in Innovation Actions (IA) in any capacity.

Geographic Location

Applicants must be legal entities established in EU Member States or countries associated with Horizon Europe.
The following countries are considered eligible for funding:
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 (EU Member States)
AL, BA, GE, IS, MD, ME, NO, RS, TR, UA, UK (Commonly Associated Countries for Horizon Europe, though actual list may vary per work programme decision).

Project Readiness Level

Projects must address Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 6 and 7, meaning demonstration of a system prototype in an operational environment or demonstration of a system in a relevant environment.

Compliance and Other Conditions

Proposals must comply with all general conditions described in the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes, including admissibility conditions (page limits, layout), eligible countries, other eligible conditions, financial and operational capacity, exclusion criteria, evaluation and award processes, and legal/financial set-up of grants.

Application Process

Application Submission

Application deadline: 2025-09-23 00:00:00+0000 (Brussels time, UTC+0).
Submission window: Opened on 2025-05-22.
Submission procedure: Single-stage.
Submission platform: Electronic Submission Service via the Funding & Tenders Portal. Applicants must sign in to access the application form specific to this call.

Required Documentation

The application form (specific to this call), available in the Submission System (Part B, including page limit and layout as per Annex A and E of Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes).
A comprehensive business case demonstrating expected market impact and opportunities.
An exploitation strategy for industrialisation, identifying obstacles, requirements, and necessary actions for reaching higher TRLs and future deployment.
An elaborated exploitation plan as a project output, including preliminary plans for scalability, commercialisation, and deployment, with identified funding sources.
A GHG avoidance methodology is recommended.

Post-Award Requirements

Reporting schedules and frequency are outlined in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Societal and environmental impacts, as well as implications for the workplace (including skills and organisational changes), should be outlined in the project outputs.

Support Resources

Guidance and assistance are available through: Online Manual, Horizon Europe Programme Guide, Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points (NCPs), Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), IT Helpdesk, European IPR Helpdesk, CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk, ETSI Research Helpdesk, European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment, and Partner Search services.

Evaluation Criteria

Impact

The business case and exploitation strategy are decisive factors in the evaluation.
Proposals must demonstrate the expected impact in terms of enhanced market opportunities for participants and deployment within the EU in the short to medium term.
Expected to describe the targeted market(s), estimated market size (EU and global), user and customer needs, and demonstrate cost-effective solutions.
Must outline the expected market position and competitive advantage of the proposed solution.
For TRLs 6 and 7, a credible strategy to achieve future full-scale deployment in the EU is required, outlining intentions of industrial partners post-project.
Projects should significantly increase process flexibility, enable new flexible and efficient production processes, and increase raw material and energy efficiency.
Expected to contribute to the EU climate neutrality objective and the Commission's recommendation of reducing EU GHG emissions by 90% by 2040.
Voluntary contributions of data, indicators, and knowledge to Joint Research Centre (JRC) platforms (INCITE, EIGL) can be considered.

Quality and Efficiency of the Implementation

Proposed solutions should demonstrate improved performance, scalability, and cost efficiency through at least one realistic use case at pilot scale.
The definition of necessary skills for industrial implementation should be included. Digital tools and advanced control can be elements of the solution.

Excellence

Proposals must address the redesign and modification of existing processes, including equipment modifications and smart combinations of renewable energy sources, to improve overall operational flexibility.
Redesign and modification of plants and processes should increase their flexibility response rate (e.g., faster ramp-up/ramp-down) while maintaining high energy and resource efficiency.
Must demonstrate and evaluate material and energy efficiency gains from a holistic view of processing plants and energy systems, along with economic benefits from energy market price variations.
Inclusion of a GHG avoidance methodology is recommended, providing detailed baseline and projected reductions.

Strategic Alignment

Proposals should specifically boost the industrial decarbonisation technologies supply chain in Europe.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory & Legal Compliance

Projects must adhere to the legal and financial setup of grants described in Annex G of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Compliance with Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment, and Financial Capacity Assessment is required.
Adherence to the Horizon Europe Framework Programme 2021/695, Specific Programme Decision 2021/764 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509.

Environmental & Sustainability Standards

Proposals should integrate principles of circular economy to achieve resource efficiency in materials, energy, and water.
This includes focusing on innovative upcycling of secondary raw materials and waste, and developing sustainable industrial processes.

Social & Ethical Considerations

The 'human dimension' (including gender differences) should be emphasized through the Industry 5.0 paradigm.
Projects are encouraged to develop scalable training material to equip workers with the necessary skillsets for new innovative products, services, and processes.

Intellectual Property & Technology

Intellectual property policies are governed by the standard Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreements (MGA).
Projects may include digital tools and advanced control to support operation and flexibility, trustworthy AI, digital twins, and deployment of common European data spaces.

Unique Program Aspects

This topic specifically implements the co-programmed European partnership 'Processes4Planet'.
Consortia, if selected for funding, are encouraged to consider voluntary contributions of data, indicators, and knowledge to relevant Joint Research Centre (JRC) platforms, such as the INnovation Centre for Industrial Transformation and Emissions (INCITE) and The Energy and Industry Geography Lab (EIGL).

Grant Details