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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

Grant Purpose and Target

Core Objective: Develop new and emerging CO2 capture technologies that lead to reduced overall capture costs and the lowest possible negative environmental impact, including water usage.
Target Recipient Type and Size: Open to a broad range of entities capable of conducting research and innovation, including research organizations, universities, and companies (e.g., startups, SMEs, enterprises).
SECTOR-SPECIFIC
Geographic Scope: Primarily targets entities from EU Member States and countries associated with Horizon Europe. Non-EU/non-associated countries may be eligible if specific funding provisions are made.
Key Filtering Criteria for Initial Screening:
- Focus on CO2 capture technology development (either point-source or direct air capture).
- Emphasis on cost reduction and minimizing negative environmental impacts.
- Projects should clearly state whether they address point sources or direct air capture.
Grant Frequency: Part of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025, indicating it is part of a recurring funding scheme, although this specific call has a defined single deadline.

Financial Structure

Funding Mechanism: Grants will take the form of a lump sum contribution.
Total Estimated Budget for Topic: EUR 18,000,000.
Expected Number of Grants: 3.
Estimated Grant Amount per Project: EUR 6,000,000.
Minimum Grant Amount per Project: EUR 6,000,000.
Maximum Grant Amount per Project: EUR 6,000,000.
Currency: EUR.
Funding Rate: The lump sum is calculated based on estimated eligible costs, applying the reimbursement rate set out in Horizon Europe rules, which for Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) is typically 100.0% of eligible costs.
Eligible Costs (for lump sum calculation): Must be an approximation of actual costs and include only costs eligible for an actual costs grant. Categories include:
- Personnel costs (employees, contractors, seconded persons, SME owners, natural person beneficiaries).
- Subcontracting costs.
- Purchase costs (travel, subsistence, equipment, other goods, works, and services).
- Other cost categories (financial support to third parties, internally invoiced goods/services, access to research infrastructure, procurement costs).
Ineligible Costs: Must be excluded from the lump sum calculation.
Indirect Costs: Calculated by applying a 25% flat rate to the direct cost categories that qualify for indirect costs under Horizon Europe rules. This flat rate is included in the lump sum calculation.
Co-financing: The total estimated costs of the action must be greater than the estimated Union contributions.
Payment Schedule: Payments do not depend on costs actually incurred but on the proper implementation and completion of defined work packages. Pre-financing follows standard Horizon Europe rules.
Financial Guarantees: 5-8% of the total lump sum is retained as a contribution to the Mutual Insurance Mechanism.
Financial Reporting: Beneficiaries have no obligation to document costs incurred for the action to the granting authority, but they remain subject to national accounting rules. Financial checks are normally not performed on actual costs.

Eligibility Requirements

Organizational Type and Structure

Eligible organization types are generally any legal entity that can participate in Horizon Europe, including, but not limited to, private companies, public research organizations, universities, and non-governmental organizations.
Consortium Required: While not explicitly stated as mandatory, Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) within Horizon Europe typically require multi-beneficiary consortia. The grant document's reference to 'large multi-beneficiary projects' and 'consortia' in the context of lump sums strongly implies this structure.

Geographic Location

Eligible countries are those listed in Annex B of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
This includes all EU Member States and countries associated with the Horizon Europe Programme (e.g., Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Faroe Islands).
Non-EU/non-associated countries may participate if specific provisions for funding their participants are made.

Financial and Operational Capacity

Applicants must demonstrate sufficient financial and operational capacity, as detailed in Annex C of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.

Legal and Regulatory Requirements

Compliance with all conditions described in the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes is required.
Applicants must adhere to ethical standards and principles of research integrity.

Application Process

Application Timeline

Submission System Opening Date: 2025-09-16.
Application Deadline: 2026-02-17 00:00:00+00.
Submission Procedure: Single-stage.
Evaluation Period: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes (not specified in detail here).

Required Documentation and Materials

Proposal Application Form: Use the standard application form for HE RIA/IA, available in the Submission System (Part B of the Application Form).
Page Limits and Layout: Must adhere to the proposal page limits and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Detailed Budget Table: A detailed budget table (HE LS) must be prepared for lump sum proposals.
Lump Sum Proposal: Applicants must propose the lump sum amount based on their estimated direct and indirect costs, providing a breakdown per work package and, within each work package, per beneficiary and affiliated entity.
Accounting Practice Declaration: Applicants must declare that they have followed their own accounting practices for the preparation of the estimated budget.

Application Procedure

Proposals are submitted via the Funding & Tenders Portal's Submission System.
External independent experts will evaluate proposals.

Support and Assistance

General Guidance: Online Manual, HE Programme Guide, Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ.
Enquiry Services: Research Enquiry Service, IT Helpdesk for technical issues.
Contact Points: National Contact Points (NCPs) for guidance and assistance, Enterprise Europe Network for business advice (especially SMEs).
Intellectual Property: European IPR Helpdesk for intellectual property issues.
Standardisation: CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk for advice on standardisation.
Partner Search: A dedicated Partner Search tool is available to help find partner organizations for proposals.
Ethical Guidelines: Consult The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment.

Evaluation Criteria

Award Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on the standard Horizon Europe award criteria: Excellence, Impact, and Quality and efficiency of the implementation.

Specific Scoring Factors

Balanced Portfolio: To ensure a balanced portfolio, grants will be awarded not only based on ranking but also, for each of the two areas (point-source capture and direct air capture), at least one highest-ranked proposal will be selected, provided it meets all thresholds and subject to available budget.
Innovation and Technical Quality:
- Development of new or emerging capture technologies with high potential for cost reduction.
- Emphasis on enhanced absorption/adsorption, improved kinetics, and reduced energy use for CO2 capture and desorption.
- Use of novel materials with high selectivity for CO2 capture, considering flexibility of operation, modularisation, scale-up, and space occupation.
- Attention to degradation and lifespan of capture materials, and ability for retrofit.
- For Direct Air Capture (DAC), focus on novel sorbent or solvent materials with higher CO2 capture capacities and long-term stability.
- Technologies must aim to deliver CO2 at specifications required for transport and storage, with very low impurities.
- For point-source capture, address performance under variable operating conditions and ensure good matches between industrial application and capture technology.
Impact:
- Contribution to reduced overall cost of CO2 capture.
- Lowest possible negative environmental impact, including water use.
- Minimisation of health and environmental impact, especially in view of future scaling up.
Quality and Efficiency of Implementation:
- Detailed budget estimation per work package and per beneficiary, which will be checked by financial experts against benchmarks for alignment with activities and expected outputs.
Strategic Alignment and Collaboration:
- International cooperation with participating countries of the Mission Innovation Carbon Dioxide Removal Mission is encouraged, particularly for DAC projects.
- Use of the European Research Infrastructure for CO2 Capture, Utilisation, Transport and Storage (ECCSEL) is encouraged, though not mandatory.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory Compliance

Compliance with Regulation (EU) 2021/695 (Horizon Europe) and Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 2018/1046 (financial rules).
Adherence to the Decision of 7 July 2021, which authorizes the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme.

Environmental and Ethical Standards

Projects must explicitly address the minimization of health and environmental impact, including water use, especially in the context of future scaling up of technologies.
Adherence to ethical standards and principles of research integrity is required.

Technical Specifications

Developed CO2 capture technologies must aim to deliver CO2 at the specifications required for transport and storage, with very low levels of impurities.
For point-source capture, technologies should ensure good performance under variable operating conditions and maintain high capture rates during load changes.
For DAC, novel sorbent/solvent materials should have higher CO2 capture capacities and long-term stability.

Intellectual Property Policies

Management of intellectual property generated within the project must comply with the grant agreement provisions.

Risk Management

The lump sum approach significantly reduces financial audit risks, as payments are tied to work package completion rather than incurred costs.
Checks, reviews, and audits will focus on the technical implementation of the action, including the fulfillment of work package conditions, ethics, research integrity, dissemination, exploitation of results, and intellectual property management.

Special Considerations

Project Focus: Proposals must clearly identify whether they are addressing CO2 capture from point sources or directly from air (Direct Air Capture, DAC).
International Cooperation: For DAC projects, international cooperation with participating countries of the Mission Innovation Carbon Dioxide Removal Mission is strongly encouraged.
Infrastructure Use: The use of the European Research Infrastructure for CO2 Capture, Utilisation, Transport and Storage (ECCSEL) is encouraged, though not mandatory.
Cross-Cutting Priorities: The topic aligns with cross-cutting priorities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Digital Agenda, suggesting that digital solutions and AI integration in CO2 capture technologies would be favorably viewed.
Future Scaling: Projects should consider the scalability of their developed technologies and their implications for future health and environmental impact.

Grant Details