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Strategic Analysis
This call targets deep decarbonisation of energy-intensive process industries by integrating efficient renewable energy sources and advanced energy management systems. A winning proposal will demonstrate innovative, economically viable solutions for both low/medium and high-temperature processes, leveraging novel materials to reduce critical raw material dependency and enhance circularity, while ensuring broad applicability across industrial sectors.
TRL 4 → 7
Advancements in the use of energy from renewable sources in production processes with improved energy efficiency.
Integrated energy systems with novel storage elements to enable a smooth operation of the plants despite variations in the availability of energy from renewable sources.
Solutions for low/medium temperature (100 - 500 °C) energy inputs in energy intensive industries including hybrid solutions and a progressive reduction of the use of fossil carriers of energy.
Solutions for high temperature (> 500 °C) energy inputs in energy intensive industries, including high temperature electricity driven processes, and high temperature energy storage.
Application of high-performance insulation materials and new innovative advanced materials that can improve heat capture, storage, and retrieval, particularly for scalable high-temperature applications. Such materials should minimize the use of critical raw material, enabling effective recycling.
A significant decarbonisation of processes (measured by the reduction of GHG emissions from the overall system) with broad applicability and economic viability.
Facilitation of the transition from fossil-based energy inputs for: low/medium thermal energy demands by introducing renewable-based alternatives and heat upgrading.
High-temperature processes, by innovative technologies for electrified and hybrid high-temperature processes, high temperature energy storage.
Clean energy usage is given a boost through innovative advanced materials, system concepts and technologies for energy integration and energy storage, supporting resilience against energy supply variations
Clean Industrial Deal adopted in February 2025;
Critical Raw Materials Act;
Advanced Materials Communication and future Advanced Materials Act planned for 2026;
Future Circular Economy Act planned for 2026;
Steel and Metals Action Plan adopted in March 2025;
European Chemicals Industry Action Plan adopted in July 2025;
Industrial action plan for the European automotive sector adopted in March 2025; and
Strategy on research and technology infrastructures, with regard to technology infrastructures and the valorisation of knowledge.
Clean Industrial Deal
highThe "Clean Industrial Deal" refers to the industrial dimension of the European Green Deal, aiming to make European industry more sustainable, competitive, and resilient. It focuses on decarbonization, circularity, resource efficiency, and the development of clean technologies and products, while ensuring a level playing field and supporting innovation.
Proposals should demonstrate how their advanced manufacturing solutions contribute to the green transition of industry, for example, by reducing emissions, improving resource efficiency, enabling circularity, or developing clean technologies. Alignment with the EU's climate and environmental objectives and enhancing industrial competitiveness are key.
Advanced Materials Communication
highThe "Advanced Materials Communication" refers to the European Commission's communication on advanced materials, which typically outlines a strategic vision and actions to foster the development, production, and uptake of advanced materials in the EU. It emphasizes their importance for the green and digital transitions, industrial competitiveness, and strategic autonomy, often highlighting the need for a supportive regulatory framework, investment, and innovation ecosystems.
Proposals should demonstrate a clear understanding of the strategic importance of advanced materials as outlined in the Communication. They should show how their project contributes to the EU's leadership in advanced materials, supports key industrial value chains, and aligns with the objectives of the green and digital transitions, potentially by addressing challenges in scaling up, market access, or sustainability.
Advanced Materials Act
highThe proposed Advanced Materials Act aims to establish a comprehensive framework to accelerate the development, testing, and deployment of advanced materials in the EU. It seeks to streamline regulatory processes, foster investment, and create a more predictable environment for innovation in advanced materials, crucial for strategic industries and the green and digital transitions.
Proposals should demonstrate how their advanced manufacturing activities align with the objectives of fostering innovation and industrial uptake of advanced materials. This could involve addressing regulatory hurdles, contributing to standardization, or showcasing pathways for rapid deployment and scaling of new materials and their manufacturing processes.
Circular Economy Act
highThe "Circular Economy Act" refers to the legislative and policy framework stemming from the EU's Circular Economy Action Plans. It aims to accelerate the transition to a circular economy by promoting sustainable product design, reducing waste, increasing recycling and reuse, and fostering circular business models across key value chains.
Proposals should clearly demonstrate how their advanced manufacturing processes contribute to circularity. This includes aspects like resource efficiency, waste reduction, use of secondary raw materials, design for longevity, repairability, or recyclability, and the development of circular business models within the manufacturing context.
Processes4Planet
highProcesses4Planet is a co-programmed European Partnership under Horizon Europe. It aims to transform the European process industries (e.g., chemicals, steel, cement, ceramics, water) into a circular, climate-neutral, and competitive sector. It focuses on breakthrough technologies for resource and energy efficiency, circularity, and decarbonization, contributing to the European Green Deal objectives.
Proposals must explicitly demonstrate how they align with the strategic objectives and priorities of the Processes4Planet partnership. This includes showing contributions to climate neutrality, circularity, resource and energy efficiency in process industries, and the development and deployment of relevant breakthrough technologies.
Innovative Advanced Materials for the EU
high"Innovative Advanced Materials for the EU" refers to a co-programmed European Partnership under Horizon Europe, focused on accelerating the development, uptake, and market deployment of advanced materials. It aims to strengthen Europe's strategic autonomy and industrial leadership in materials, supporting the green and digital transitions across various sectors by fostering innovation, sustainability, and circularity in materials design and manufacturing.
Proposals must clearly articulate how they contribute to the objectives of the Innovative Advanced Materials for the EU partnership. This involves demonstrating innovation in advanced materials, addressing their sustainable production and application, supporting their market uptake, and aligning with the green and digital transition goals.
Critical Raw Materials Act
mediumSteel and Metals Action Plan
mediumThe Steel and Metals Action Plan (or similar initiatives) focuses on supporting the competitiveness and sustainability of the EU's steel and metals industries. It addresses challenges such as decarbonization, raw material supply, energy efficiency, and the adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies to ensure the sector's long-term viability and contribution to the green transition.
If the advanced manufacturing project involves steel or other metals, proposals should highlight how it contributes to the objectives of this action plan, such as reducing the carbon footprint of metal production, improving resource efficiency in metal processing, or developing innovative metal products and processes.
European Chemicals Industry Action Plan
mediumStrategy on research and technology infrastructures
mediumThis strategy aims to strengthen the European Research Area by developing, integrating, and optimizing world-class research and technology infrastructures. It focuses on providing researchers with access to cutting-edge facilities, fostering collaboration, and supporting the translation of research results into innovation and industrial applications.
Proposals should demonstrate how they leverage existing research and technology infrastructures or contribute to their development and accessibility, particularly for advanced manufacturing. This could involve using shared facilities for testing, piloting, or scaling up innovative manufacturing processes, or contributing to the infrastructure's capabilities.
Industrial action plan for the European automotive sector
lowThis action plan aims to support the European automotive sector in its twin green and digital transitions, enhancing its competitiveness and resilience. It addresses challenges such as electrification, connectivity, automation, and the need for new skills, while fostering innovation in manufacturing processes and supply chains.
If the advanced manufacturing project specifically targets the automotive sector, proposals should demonstrate how their solutions contribute to the sector's transformation, for example, by enabling new production methods for electric vehicles, improving supply chain resilience, or supporting the development of autonomous driving components.
1. Admissibility conditions — Proposal page limit and layout Applicants submitting a proposal for a blind evaluation (see General Annex F) must not disclose their organisation names, acronyms, logos nor names of personnel in the proposal abstract and Part B of their first-stage application (see General Annex E). In order to include a business case and exploitation strategy, as outlined in the introduction to Destination 'Leadership in materials and production for Europe', the page limit in part B of the General Annexes is exceptionally extended by 3 pages (for second-stage proposals). described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
2. Eligible Countries — described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide .
3. Other Eligibility Conditions — described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion — described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds — The first-stage proposals of this topic will be evaluated blindly. are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes — are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual .
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement — described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants — The granting authority may, up to 4 years after the end of the action, object to a transfer of ownership or to the exclusive licensing of results, as set out in the specific provision of Annex 5. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf ]]. described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]
Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System Stage 1: Standard application form (HE RIA IA Stage 1 BLIND) Stage 2: Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations Stage 1: Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA and CSA Stage 1 BLIND) Stage 2: Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) Guidance HE Programme Guide Model Grant Agreements (MGA) Lump Sum MGA Call-specific instructions Detailed budget table (HE LS) Information on financial support to third parties (HE) Information on clinical studies (HE) Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?"
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 7. Digital, Industry and Space HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 14. Horizontal Activities HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes HE Programme Guide HE Framework Programme 2021/695 HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement
Evaluators will prioritize proposals that clearly articulate a robust innovation action (IA) with a strong focus on demonstrating technologies at TRL 4-7, leading to significant and measurable GHG emission reductions. Crucially, proposals must show a clear path to economic viability and broad applicability of the developed solutions, aligning with the strategic objectives of the Processes4Planet and Innovative Advanced Materials for the EU partnerships. Given the blind evaluation for Stage 1, the technical excellence and impact potential, without disclosing consortium identity, will be paramount.
Everything the call asks for, seen from the call's point of view. Each line shows what answers it, and which partner carries it.
This matrix lists everything the call asks for: outcomes, impacts, scope, the requirements buried in the call text, and policy alignment. Sign up free and GrantForge tracks each line against the concept you build.
| Requirement | Covered by | Carried | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope activities | |||
| SC1Advancements in the use of energy from renewable sources in production processes with improved energy efficiency. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| SC2Integrated energy systems with novel storage elements to enable a smooth operation of the plants despite variations in the availability of energy from renewable sources. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| SC3Solutions for low/medium temperature (100 - 500 °C) energy inputs in energy intensive industries including hybrid solutions and a progressive reduction of the use of fossil carriers of energy. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| SC4Solutions for high temperature (> 500 °C) energy inputs in energy intensive industries, including high temperature electricity driven processes, and high temperature energy storage. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| SC5Application of high-performance insulation materials and new innovative advanced materials that can improve heat capture, storage, and retrieval, particularly for scalable high-temperature applications. Such materials should minimize the use of critical raw material, enabling effective recycling. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| Expected outcomes | |||
| EO1A significant decarbonisation of processes (measured by the reduction of GHG emissions from the overall system) with broad applicability and economic viability. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| EO2Facilitation of the transition from fossil-based energy inputs for: low/medium thermal energy demands by introducing renewable-based alternatives and heat upgrading. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| EO3High-temperature processes, by innovative technologies for electrified and hybrid high-temperature processes, high temperature energy storage. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| EO4Clean energy usage is given a boost through innovative advanced materials, system concepts and technologies for energy integration and energy storage, supporting resilience against energy supply variations | · | · | Sign up to track |
| Other requirements | |||
| No other requirements in this call. | |||
| Expected impacts | |||
| EI1Clean Industrial Deal adopted in February 2025; | · | · | Sign up to track |
| EI2Critical Raw Materials Act; | · | · | Sign up to track |
| EI3Advanced Materials Communication and future Advanced Materials Act planned for 2026; | · | · | Sign up to track |
| EI4Future Circular Economy Act planned for 2026; | · | · | Sign up to track |
| EI5Steel and Metals Action Plan adopted in March 2025; | · | · | Sign up to track |
| EI6European Chemicals Industry Action Plan adopted in July 2025; | · | · | Sign up to track |
| EI7Industrial action plan for the European automotive sector adopted in March 2025; and | · | · | Sign up to track |
| EI8Strategy on research and technology infrastructures, with regard to technology infrastructures and the valorisation of knowledge. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| Underlying policies | |||
| POL1clean industrial dealThe "Clean Industrial Deal" refers to the industrial dimension of the European Green Deal, aiming to make European industry more sustainable, competitive, and resilient. It focuses on decarbonization, circularity, resource efficiency, and the development of clean technologies and products, while ensuring a level playing field and supporting innovation. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| POL2advanced materials communicationThe "Advanced Materials Communication" refers to the European Commission's communication on advanced materials, which typically outlines a strategic vision and actions to foster the development, production, and uptake of advanced materials in the EU. It emphasizes their importance for the green and digital transitions, industrial competitiveness, and strategic autonomy, often highlighting the need for a supportive regulatory framework, investment, and innovation ecosystems. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| POL3advanced materials actThe proposed Advanced Materials Act aims to establish a comprehensive framework to accelerate the development, testing, and deployment of advanced materials in the EU. It seeks to streamline regulatory processes, foster investment, and create a more predictable environment for innovation in advanced materials, crucial for strategic industries and the green and digital transitions. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| POL4circular economy actThe "Circular Economy Act" refers to the legislative and policy framework stemming from the EU's Circular Economy Action Plans. It aims to accelerate the transition to a circular economy by promoting sustainable product design, reducing waste, increasing recycling and reuse, and fostering circular business models across key value chains. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| POL5processes4planetProcesses4Planet is a co-programmed European Partnership under Horizon Europe. It aims to transform the European process industries (e.g., chemicals, steel, cement, ceramics, water) into a circular, climate-neutral, and competitive sector. It focuses on breakthrough technologies for resource and energy efficiency, circularity, and decarbonization, contributing to the European Green Deal objectives. | · | · | Sign up to track |
| POL6innovative advanced materials for the eu"Innovative Advanced Materials for the EU" refers to a co-programmed European Partnership under Horizon Europe, focused on accelerating the development, uptake, and market deployment of advanced materials. It aims to strengthen Europe's strategic autonomy and industrial leadership in materials, supporting the green and digital transitions across various sectors by fostering innovation, sustainability, and circularity in materials design and manufacturing. | · | · | Sign up to track |
The binding rules of this call. Items marked auto are verified by GrantForge from the call and the template. The others are yours to confirm.
LMIC entities auto-eligible
Low/middle-income country entities are automatically eligible for funding.
Page limit Stage 1
Part B Section 1+2+3 combined is typically capped at 10 pages at Stage 1. Pages exceeding the limit are invisible to evaluators.
Consortium continuity
The consortium declared at Stage 1 is expected to submit Stage 2. Substantial changes must be justified.
EU space data infrastructures
If the project uses satellite-based Earth observation, positioning, navigation or timing data/services, beneficiaries must use Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS.
Civil applications only
Exclusive military or dual-use applications are excluded.
Talk to the Grant Coach to build your concept. The steps below fill in as it takes shape, and your coverage tracks the progress. You can refine everything once your project workspace is created.
Step 1 of 2 · Build your concept
The problems this call frames, and who they affect. Your concept and plan address them.
Process industries are significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, primarily due to their reliance on fossil fuels for high-temperature heat and energy-intensive processes, hindering climate neutrality goals.
Many industrial processes suffer from suboptimal energy efficiency and a heavy dependency on fossil fuels for thermal energy demands, leading to high operational costs and environmental impact.
The integration of variable renewable energy sources into industrial plants faces challenges related to energy management, storage, and ensuring smooth, continuous operation, especially for high-temperature applications.
Current materials often lack the performance, durability, or sustainability (e.g., critical raw material content, recyclability) required for advanced heat capture, storage, and retrieval in demanding high-temperature industrial environments.
Energy-intensive industries (e.g., steel, cement, chemicals, automotive) that will directly implement and benefit from the developed energy efficiency and decarbonisation technologies.
Companies and SMEs developing and supplying renewable energy technologies, energy management systems, and advanced materials for industrial applications.
Organisations involved in the research, development, and production of high-performance insulation and advanced materials with improved heat management properties and circularity.
European and national authorities responsible for industrial policy, energy transition, circular economy, and critical raw materials, who will benefit from evidence-based recommendations for future legislation and action plans.
Academics, researchers, and R&D institutions working on industrial decarbonisation, renewable energy integration, advanced materials science, and energy storage, who will benefit from new knowledge, data, and collaboration opportunities.
Step 2 of 2 · Build your concept
The long-term impacts your project should drive — this shapes the objectives next.
Contribute to the ambitious targets of the Clean Industrial Deal and related industrial action plans by achieving substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from energy-intensive process industries, fostering a greener industrial landscape.
Boost the adoption of clean energy usage by improving energy efficiency and facilitating the integration of renewable sources and novel storage elements, leading to more resilient and sustainable industrial operations.
Support the objectives of the Critical Raw Materials Act and the future Circular Economy Act by developing advanced materials that minimize critical raw material content and enable effective recycling, promoting resource efficiency in industrial applications.
Facilitate the transition from fossil-based energy inputs for both low/medium and high-temperature industrial processes, contributing directly to the goals of the Clean Industrial Deal and sector-specific action plans.