What this call funds
Expected Outcome
Renewable heating can be directly used to efficiently decarbonise industrial processes. Concentrated solar thermal technologies offer a great potential to supply renewable heat for industry for temperatures between 150°C - 400°C. Nevertheless, efforts are still required to demonstrate these technologies for a variety of industrial processes.
Proposals are expected to contribute to all the following outcomes:
- Showcase the capacity of concentrated solar thermal systems to largely meet the heat demand of industrial processes and to achieve a yearly solar fraction of at least 50%.
- Increase competitiveness of concentrated solar thermal for industrial applications. This is to be proven by an economically feasible business case; by reducing the Levelised Cost of Heating (LCoH); and by valorising and promoting the competitive advantages of the technology such as heat storage, flexibility, and energy security.
Scope
The proposals are expected to demonstrate concentrated solar technologies for heat production (within the 150°C - 400°C range), combined with storage, feeding the generated heat to existing heating and/or cooling processes in industry, e.g., drying, melting, sterilisation, refrigeration, etc.
The proposals are expected to efficiently integrate the solar heat system in the selected industrial application. To a possible extent, the proposals should optimise energy efficiency and heat recovery of the industrial process to maximise the coverage of the heat demand by the solar system and to ensure an efficient solar investment. Hybridisation with other on-site renewable energy technologies could be considered. However, the core solutions are expected to focus on the concentrated solar thermal part and not on the industrial process or on the hybrid renewable energy technologies.
The proposed solution is expected to be demonstrated in all possible solar incidence, and for a continuous period of at least 6 months. The replicability potential to other industrial processes should also be taken into account.
The proposals are expected to address the techno-economic feasibility and the environmental impact of the proposed systems, as well as specific issues related to the integration of the solar systems in the industrial process such as surface availability.
The proposal is expected to include a clear go/no go milestone before entering the deployment phase. Before this go/no-go milestone, the project is expected to submit: i) a proof of solid engagement of the industrial demonstration party, ii) all needed permits for deployment, iii) credible and detailed engineering plans, and iv) a complete business and implementation plan.
The use of the European Research Infrastructure for concentrated solar power EU-SOLARIS is encouraged but not mandatory.
Technology Readiness Level - Technology readiness level expected from completed projects
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 7 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL.
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
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
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.
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
Source: EU Funding & Tenders Portal · synced 2026-10-13