Delivery of industrial CCUS clusters – Societal Readiness pilot – Förderung EU-weit

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes: • Near-to-market solutions for the safe integration and use of CCUS technologies in the energy- and carbon-intensive industry; • A pipeline of projects that have the potential for commercial scale-up. • Deeper understanding of the needs and concerns of diverse social groups involved in or potentially affected by the R&I development of the technology, thereby increasing the potential for beneficial societal uptake and building trust in results and outcomes. Scope: Projects are expected to be the de-risking first step to develop local or regional industrial CCUS clusters, i.e. (multi) source and (multi) sink solutions for the decarbonisation of the hard-to-abate industries of the region. Projects are expected to be the basis and orientation for future full-size projects. To maximise the impact, projects should have a substantial industrial involvement. Projects should address most, but not necessarily all of the below issues: • Detailed planning and preparation for retrofitting capture systems to existing industrial plants; • Demonstrating important system components; • Identification and characterisation of the clustering potential of (cross-border) regional CO2 emitters; • Optimisation of industrial symbiosis between emitters and potential users of CO2; • Development of tools to optimise the design and operation of the cluster(s) and operate CO2 streams with different compositions, flow rates and operating regimes to comply with the constraints for the shared transport and storage infrastructure; • Identification of potential regional users of a common CO2 infrastructure (this could also include enlargement counties, such as the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova); • Comprehensive economic and technical assessment to identify the best (multimodal) transport options, including the re-use of existing infrastructure; • Development of business models for regional CO2 transport networks, including for dispersed industrial sites to link these to larger industrial clusters or pipeline networks; • Consideration of feasible CO2 geological storage services • Comprehensive set of studies and preparatory actions leading to permitting; • Scenarios for integrating CO2 infrastructure in (plans for) regional, national and/or cross-border energy networks (electricity, hydrogen, natural gas), also in relation to future changes in industrial landscape and energy supply mix. Projects are expected to deliver a strategy for the exploitation of results that includes plans for scalability, commercialisation, deployment, permitting procedures, and identified public and private funding sources for CAPEX and OPEX, like private equity, the InvestEU, the EU Catalyst Partnership, the Innovation Fund, and possibly the Regional Development policy funds. For CO2 capture, transport, utilisation and (in particular onshore) geological storage, public acceptability is paramount. Therefore, projects are expected to identify and engage relevant end users and societal stakeholders (such as civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations, and local associations) in deliberative activities, so as to consider and respond to their needs and concerns. This topic is a Societal-Readiness pilot: • Proposals should follow the instructions applying to the Societal Readiness pilot, as described in the introduction of the Horizon Europe Main Work Programme 2026-2027 for Climate, Energy and Mobility. They entail the use of an interdisciplinary approach to deepening consideration and responsiveness of R&I activities to societal needs and concerns. • This topic requires effective contribution of the relevant SSH expertise, including the involvement of SSH experts in the consortium, to meaningfully support Societal Readiness. Specifically, SSH expertise is expected to facilitate the socio-technological interface and enable the design of project objectives with Societal Readiness related activities. Technology Readiness Level - Technology readiness level expected from completed projects Activities are expected to achieve TRL 6-8 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL. ">General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout The page limit of the application is extended by two pages to 42 to properly address Societal Readiness-related issues. 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 Eligible Conditions In line with the “restriction on control in innovation actions in critical technology areas” delineated in General Annex B of the General Annexes, entities established in an eligible country but which are directly or indirectly controlled by China or by a legal entity established in China are not eligible to participate in the action. If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used). 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 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 described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme] Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA): Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)  Guidance HE Programme Guide  Model Grant Agreements (MGA) HE MGA Additional documents: HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 8. Climate, Energy and Mobility 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