HORIZON-CL5-2026-03-D3-29: Pre-commercial appraisal for…

On this page · 5 sections→

01Who wins calls like this
02Call scope
03Eligibility & conditions
04Official FAQs
05Official source

Who wins calls like this

Based on projects the EU funded on the same subject in this programme.

Who leads the winning projects

Research centres63%
SMEs13%
Large companies13%
Universities13%

€4.5Mtypical EU grant per project

Most common lead countriesSpain, Greece, United Kingdom, Norway, Netherlands

Projects funded on similar topics

CO2SITEINVESTABLE STORAGE ATLAS – SUPPORTING INVESTMENTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CO2 STORAGE CAPACITY IN THE EU
HORIZON-CL5-2025-02-D3-26 · 2026 · Official record ↗
€5.0M
SPECSImpuritieS ImPacts and ManagEment for CO2 Storage
HORIZON-CL5-2025-02-D3-25 · 2026 · Official record ↗
€5.0M
Eastern LightsDevelopment of CO2 transport and storage demo project in Eastern Europe - Eastern Lights
HORIZON-CL5-2023-D3-01-17 · 2024 · Official record ↗
€19.1M
COSECBiogenic CO2 capture into Sustainable Energy Carriers: A novel photosynthetic and hydrogenotrophic CO2 fixation combined with waste nutrient upcycling for production of carbon negative energy carriers
HORIZON-CL5-2024-D3-01-05 · 2024 · Official record ↗
€3.9M
REUSEEnzymatic CO2 Capture in a Rotating Packed Bed and Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction to Useful Products
HORIZON-CL5-2024-D3-01-05 · 2024 · Official record ↗
€3.8M
IMPACT-EUCO2IMPURITY IMPACTS ON CO2 TRANSPORT: CLOSING KNOWLEDGE GAPS FOR A ROBUST EUROPEAN CO2 TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
HORIZON-CL5-2025-02-D3-25 · 2026 · Official record ↗
€5.0M
EffiTorchEfficient valorisation of CO2 and bio-waste for long-term energy storage using a microwave plasma torch and quenching using the reverse Boudouard reaction
HORIZON-CL5-2024-D3-01-10 · 2024 · Official record ↗
€3.0M
CEEGSNOVEL CO2-BASED ELECTROTHERMAL ENERGY AND GEOLOGICAL STORAGE SYSTEM - CEEGS
HORIZON-CL5-2021-D3-03-02 · 2022 · Official record ↗
€3.0M

Organisations that keep winning here

Each one links to its EU funding record and the partners it works with: a starting list for building a consortium.

What this call funds

Expected Outcome

Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcome:

Support pre-commercial CO2 geological storage appraisal, speed up storage site development, support planning of CO2 capture projects (and related source to store linkages), and help closing the storage capacity gap, in particular in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe.

Scope

Carry out a storage site identification and appraisal programme including at least one injection pilot test in a deep saline aquifer. Injection tests can be done with water only to reduce cost and testing duration, although this could possibly (but not necessarily) be complemented by water with CO2 (or N2) to determine the reservoir injectivity with different phases.
Cooperate with a national competent authority to ensure support in terms of the selection of the priority target formations and to have access to existing subsurface data. Demonstrate how the test site has been identified, and that CO2 storage is legally possible in the designated area.
Test sites must be in a saline aquifer at a minimal depth of 800 m, in a geologically stable area, with minimal faulting and fracturing, that provide significant scalable storage capacity (proven confinement, limited heterogeneity, and with favourable porosity and permeability and porosity), and are expected to gain the necessary permits, following the appraisal and testing. The geological conditions of the site should be defined in term of risks as it is in the Directive, that is, proposed site must demonstrate, in line with existing data, that prior analysis shows that, under the proposed conditions of use, there is no significant risk of leakage or damage to human health or the environment.
Tests should be designed as to allow a reliable quantification of the injectivity index. Test duration should be optimised to achieve a representative pressure transient response.
The Horizon Europe grant can support all data acquisition, processing and interpretation, modelling, the drilling, completion and logging of the test well, the injectivity test, and the measuring & monitoring technologies. These operations can be carried out by the consortium or be subcontracted.

This topic contributes to the R&I activity in the SET-Plan CCUS Implementation Plan[1] to unlock CO2 storage capacity through support to pre-commercial appraisal activities.

null

Activities are expected to achieve TRL 7-8 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL.

[1] 06700519-1f0f-49b7-bd03-b9021e08fc1b_en

Eligibility & conditions+

General conditions

1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout

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

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

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.

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)

Lump Sum MGA 

Call-specific instructions 

Detailed budget table (HE LS) 

Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?"

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

Official FAQs

Applicants asked the EU 1 questions about this call and the EU published the answers. They clarify the call documents but do not replace them.

Scope and project design

What is the meaning of 'aquifer' in the sentence "Test sites must be in a saline aquifer at a minimal depth of 800 m, in a geologically stable area..."?The topic aims to accelerate storage in aquifers as this forms the bulk of the storage capacity in Europe, while also encouraging the expansion of storage options beyond…

The topic aims to accelerate storage in aquifers as this forms the bulk of the storage capacity in Europe, while also encouraging the expansion of storage options beyond the current ‘leading’ areas around the North Sea. This explains the reference to Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. The minimum depth of 800 m refers to the depth at which CO2 can remain in supercritical state so as to lower its viscosity and limit buoyancy effects.

Strictly speaking, an aquifer refers to an underground layer composed of permeable material, allowing water to move through it. This can be sand/gravel, or fractured rock, including basalt. Storage in a basaltic – or more generally speaking (ultra)mafic – aquifer can thus be in scope, as long as it follows the rest of the requirements.

However, focus should not be on the process of rapid mineralisation in shallower basaltic layers such as in Iceland, as this has been sufficiently supported through previous calls, including the Innovation Fund. The topic should “unlock” new storage capacity, not copy/paste what has already been done at any given location.

Read it on the EU portal ↗Answered 3 Feb 2026

Official source

Confirm the current call documents and submission conditions with the funding authority.

View on EU portal ↗

Source: EU Funding & Tenders Portal · synced 2026-11-09

Who wins calls like this

Based on projects the EU funded on the same subject in this programme.

Who leads the winning projects

Research centres63%
SMEs13%
Large companies13%
Universities13%

€4.5Mtypical EU grant per project

Most common lead countriesSpain, Greece, United Kingdom, Norway, Netherlands

Projects funded on similar topics

CO2SITEINVESTABLE STORAGE ATLAS – SUPPORTING INVESTMENTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CO2 STORAGE CAPACITY IN THE EU

HORIZON-CL5-2025-02-D3-26 · 2026 · Official record ↗

€5.0M

SPECSImpuritieS ImPacts and ManagEment for CO2 Storage

HORIZON-CL5-2025-02-D3-25 · 2026 · Official record ↗

€5.0M

Eastern LightsDevelopment of CO2 transport and storage demo project in Eastern Europe - Eastern Lights

HORIZON-CL5-2023-D3-01-17 · 2024 · Official record ↗

€19.1M

COSECBiogenic CO2 capture into Sustainable Energy Carriers: A novel photosynthetic and hydrogenotrophic CO2 fixation combined with waste nutrient upcycling for production of carbon negative energy carriers

HORIZON-CL5-2024-D3-01-05 · 2024 · Official record ↗

€3.9M

REUSEEnzymatic CO2 Capture in a Rotating Packed Bed and Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction to Useful Products

HORIZON-CL5-2024-D3-01-05 · 2024 · Official record ↗

€3.8M

IMPACT-EUCO2IMPURITY IMPACTS ON CO2 TRANSPORT: CLOSING KNOWLEDGE GAPS FOR A ROBUST EUROPEAN CO2 TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE

HORIZON-CL5-2025-02-D3-25 · 2026 · Official record ↗

€5.0M

EffiTorchEfficient valorisation of CO2 and bio-waste for long-term energy storage using a microwave plasma torch and quenching using the reverse Boudouard reaction

HORIZON-CL5-2024-D3-01-10 · 2024 · Official record ↗

€3.0M

CEEGSNOVEL CO2-BASED ELECTROTHERMAL ENERGY AND GEOLOGICAL STORAGE SYSTEM - CEEGS

HORIZON-CL5-2021-D3-03-02 · 2022 · Official record ↗

€3.0M

Organisations that keep winning here

Each one links to its EU funding record and the partners it works with: a starting list for building a consortium.

What this call funds

Expected Outcome

Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcome:

Support pre-commercial CO2 geological storage appraisal, speed up storage site development, support planning of CO2 capture projects (and related source to store linkages), and help closing the storage capacity gap, in particular in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe.

Scope

Carry out a storage site identification and appraisal programme including at least one injection pilot test in a deep saline aquifer. Injection tests can be done with water only to reduce cost and testing duration, although this could possibly (but not necessarily) be complemented by water with CO2 (or N2) to determine the reservoir injectivity with different phases.
Cooperate with a national competent authority to ensure support in terms of the selection of the priority target formations and to have access to existing subsurface data. Demonstrate how the test site has been identified, and that CO2 storage is legally possible in the designated area.
Test sites must be in a saline aquifer at a minimal depth of 800 m, in a geologically stable area, with minimal faulting and fracturing, that provide significant scalable storage capacity (proven confinement, limited heterogeneity, and with favourable porosity and permeability and porosity), and are expected to gain the necessary permits, following the appraisal and testing. The geological conditions of the site should be defined in term of risks as it is in the Directive, that is, proposed site must demonstrate, in line with existing data, that prior analysis shows that, under the proposed conditions of use, there is no significant risk of leakage or damage to human health or the environment.
Tests should be designed as to allow a reliable quantification of the injectivity index. Test duration should be optimised to achieve a representative pressure transient response.
The Horizon Europe grant can support all data acquisition, processing and interpretation, modelling, the drilling, completion and logging of the test well, the injectivity test, and the measuring & monitoring technologies. These operations can be carried out by the consortium or be subcontracted.

This topic contributes to the R&I activity in the SET-Plan CCUS Implementation Plan[1] to unlock CO2 storage capacity through support to pre-commercial appraisal activities.

null

Activities are expected to achieve TRL 7-8 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL.

[1] 06700519-1f0f-49b7-bd03-b9021e08fc1b_en

Official FAQs

Applicants asked the EU 1 questions about this call and the EU published the answers. They clarify the call documents but do not replace them.

Scope and project design

Read it on the EU portal ↗Answered 3 Feb 2026

Pre-commercial appraisal for CO2 aquifer storage

Who wins calls like this

Projects funded on similar topics

Organisations that keep winning here

What this call funds

Expected Outcome

Scope

General conditions

Specific conditions

Official FAQs

Scope and project design

Official source

Get told when calls like this open.

Pre-commercial appraisal for CO2 aquifer storage

Who wins calls like this

Projects funded on similar topics

Organisations that keep winning here

What this call funds

Expected Outcome

Scope

General conditions

Specific conditions

Official FAQs

Scope and project design

Official source

Get told when calls like this open.