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This round is closed. Synced from the EU Funding & Tenders Portal on 9 November 2026.
Based on projects the EU funded on the same subject in this programme.
LtALighter Than Aire Hydrogen Valley
HORIZON-JU-CLEANH2-2025-06-01 · 2026 · Official record ↗
PYRAH2Pyrolytic Renewable Approach for Hydrogen and Carbon Production: Efficient Transformation of Biogenic Wastes into Hydrogen and High-Value Solid Carbon for New Industrial Value Chains
HORIZON-JU-CLEANH2-2025-01-06 · 2026 · Official record ↗
HiWhyVHigh Coast to West Coast Hydrogen Valley
HORIZON-JU-CLEANH2-2025-06-01 · 2026 · Official record ↗
FlHyPortsFlemish Hydrogen Ports Valley
HORIZON-JU-CLEANH2-2025-06-02 · 2026 · Official record ↗
PermittHyTraining Permitting Staff in Hydrogen Techologies
HORIZON-JU-CLEANH2-2025-05-03 · 2026 · Official record ↗
CRYOSTARCertification Roadmap to Yield an Optimal and Safety methodology of crashworthiness for an integrated cryogenic Tank for liquid hydrogen storAge on board of future aiRcraft
HORIZON-JU-CLEAN-AVIATION-2025-03-FTA-02 · 2025 · Official record ↗
CAVENDISHConsortium for the AdVent of aero-Engine Demonstration and aircraft Integration Strategy with Hydrogen
HORIZON-JU-CLEAN-AVIATION-2022-01-HPA-01 · 2023 · Official record ↗
H2SCOREHydrogen Storage and Fuel Cells for Optimised Renewable Energy Communities
HORIZON-JU-CLEANH2-2025-04-01 · 2025 · Official record ↗
Each one links to its EU funding record and the partners it works with: a starting list for building a consortium.
The European Union has a set of policies aimed at preventing water scarcity, putting a special emphasis on reusing treated water. This approach is recognised in Regulation (EU) 2020/741[1], which promotes reclaimed water as an alternative source to reduce the pressure on conventional resources. In addition, the newly adopted Wastewater Directive (EU) 2024/3019[2] raises the bar for effluent quality and treatment efficiency and introduces the requirement for quaternary treatment[3] in large wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by 2045. As higher standards for reclaimed water are required by law and the need for energy-efficient technologies and renewable energy integrations increases, the water sector appears as an ideal partner to develop innovative solutions that valorise regenerated water, while increasing the efficiency and sustainability of wastewater systems.
Hydrogen production by water electrolysis can handle both objectives. This technology can evolve to utilise lower-quality water streams and/or take advantage of the relatively high-quality effluents resulting from water treatments. This positions water electrolysis as a strategic production pathway in a scalable and sustainable hydrogen value chain based on diverse water sources. Utilising reclaimed water in electrolysis processes not only reduces freshwater demand but also promotes circularity. However, an important effort is still needed to implement robust water electrolysis technologies that can handle the complexity of different water qualities even in the best scenarios. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of how the low-grade water impurities interact with water electrolysis technologies, and to which grade lower requirements treatments could be sufficient in each application, is still missing.
Project results are expected to contribute to the following expected outcomes:
Project results are expected to contribute to the overall objectives and KPIs of the Clean Hydrogen JU SRIA, notably to increase current density & efficiency, reduce costs, and to decrease degradation & use of CRMs. As low-quality water electrolysis is considered, for which no KPIs are available in the SRIA, specific KPIs, to be met simultaneously, are defined below, that can be accessible to any water or steam electrolysis technologies:
Proposals are encouraged to propose additional KPIs to quantify the achievement of the innovative approach.
Proposals should aim to realise a breakthrough water electrolysis technology that can produce hydrogen from low-quality water, i.e. beyond tap water[4] and from various sources (excluding saline and seawater) operating at low energy consumption levels. The project should demonstrate a stable electrolyser cell unit incorporating innovative solutions at the material, component, cell architecture level, and alternative half-cell reactions to overcome the challenges in the electrolysis of low-quality water. In line with EU sustainability and CRM strategies and the Clean Hydrogen JU SRIA KPIs for the selected water electrolysis technology, the prototype cell should also minimise the use of PFAS and/or CRM. The target is to validate the innovative technology at TRL 4, assessing its potential for circularity, sustainability, and economic viability.
The innovative electrolyte chemistry technology should overcome the limitations of low-quality water electrolysis addressing, amongst others, the stabilisation of pH, suspended solids, inorganic, organic and biological contaminants, material corrosion, low activity, selectivity, and durability of electrocatalysts. Special attention needs to be paid to in-depth experimental, computational, and theoretical insights into the mechanistic pathways of the degradation processes by understanding the impact of water impurities on performance and durability and the potential mitigation strategies. The project should propose innovative approaches, electrodes structures and compositions, membrane/ionomer when needed, and electrochemical reactor cells to reach effective high-performing and contaminant-resistant low-quality water electrolysis materials.
The proposal should consider the following elements:
Consortia are expected to build further on the findings of previous projects funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC) Pathfinder Challenge 2021 (e.g. ANEMEL[5]) and explore synergies with relevant ongoing JU projects on direct seawater electrolysis (Sea4Volt[6], HySEas[7], SWEETHY[8] and ASTERISK[9]).
For activities developing test protocols and procedures for the performance and durability assessment of water electrolysers fed with low-quality water proposals should foresee a collaboration mechanism with JRC[10] (see section 2.2.4.3 "Collaboration with JRC"), in order to support EU-wide harmonisation. Test activities should adopt the already published EU harmonised testing protocols106[11] to benchmark performance and quantify progress at programme level.
For additional elements applicable to all topics please refer to section 2.2.3.2
The JU estimates that an EU contribution of maximum EUR 3.00 million would allow these outcomes to be addressed appropriately.
Activities are expected to start at TRL 2 and achieve TRL 4 by the end of the project - see General Annex B.
Technology Readiness Level - Technology readiness level expected from completed projects
Activities are expected to start at TRL 2 and achieve TRL 4 by the end of the project - see General Annex B.
[1] Regulation (EU) 2020/741 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 2020 on minimum requirements for water reuse.
[2] Directive (EU) 2024/3019 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2024 concerning urban wastewater treatment.
[3] Quaternary treatment is the fourth stage in wastewater treatment, which specifically targets micropollutants that are often not fully removed by conventional treatment methods.
[4] Tsotridis, G. and Pilenga, A., EU harmonized protocols for testing of low temperature water electrolysis, Publications Office, 2021, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/58880
[5] https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101071111
[6] https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101192235
[7] https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101192418
[8] https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101192342
[9] https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101192454
[10] https://www.clean-hydrogen.europa.eu/knowledge-management/collaboration-jrc-0_en
[11] https://www.clean-hydrogen.europa.eu/knowledge-management/collaboration-jrc-0/clean-hydrogen-ju-jrc-deliverables_en
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.
Page limit for Innovation Actions: For all Innovation Actions the page limit of the applications are 70 pages.
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
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Additional eligibility condition: Maximum contribution per topic
For some topics, in line with the Clean Hydrogen JU SRIA, an additional eligibility criterion has been introduced to limit the Clean Hydrogen JU requested contribution mostly for actions performed at high TRL level, including demonstration in real operational environment and with important involvement from industrial stakeholders and/or end users such as public authorities. Such actions are expected to leverage co-funding as commitment from stakeholders. It is of added value that such leverage is shown through the private investment in these specific topics. Therefore, proposals requesting contributions above the amounts specified per each topic below will not be evaluated
Additional eligibility condition: Membership to Hydrogen Europe / Hydrogen Europe Research
For the topics listed below, in line with the Clean Hydrogen JU SRIA, an additional an additional eligibility criterion has been introduced to ensure that one partner in the consortium is a member of either Hydrogen Europe or Hydrogen Europe Research. This concerns topics targeting actions for large-scale demonstrations, flagship projects and strategic research actions, where the industrial and research partners of the Clean Hydrogen JU are considered to play a key role in accelerating the commercialisation of hydrogen technologies by being closely linked to the Clean Hydrogen JU constituency, which could further ensure full alignment with the SRIA of the JU. This approach shall also ensure the continuity of the work performed within projects funded through the H2020 and FP7, by building up on their experience and consolidating the EU value-chain. In the Call 2026 this applies to: development and demonstration of flexible and standardised hydrogen storage systems and demonstration and operation of reversible solid oxide cell systems operation for local grid-connected hydrogen production and utilisation. This will also apply to the Hydrogen Valleys (flagship) topics as they are considered of strategic importance for the European Union ambitions to double the number of Hydrogen Valleys by 2025 as well as to the more recent European Commission’s inspirational target to have at least 50 Hydrogen Valleys under construction or operational by 2030 across the entire EU. For the Hydrogen Valleys topics a large amount of co-investment/co-funding of project participants/beneficiaries including national and regional programmes is expected.
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.
STEP (Sovereignty) Seal
For the Hydrogen Valleys topics, as shown below, STEP Seal (so called “Sovereignty Seal” under the STEP Regulation) will be awarded to proposals exceeding all of the evaluation thresholds set out in this Annual Work Programme. The STEP Seal is a label, which aims to increase the visibility of quality projects available for funding and help attract alternative and cumulative funding for quality projects, and simultaneously to provide a potential project pipeline for regional and national programmes.
STEP (Sovereignty) Seal is applicable to the following topics:
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.
In addition to the standard provisions, the following specific provisions in the model grant agreement will apply:
1. Lump Sum
This year’s call for proposals will take the form of lump sums 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)[2].
Lump sums will be used across all topics in the Call 2026.
[2] DECISION 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) ls-decision_he_en.pdf (europa.eu)
2. Full capitalised costs for purchases of equipment, infrastructure or other assets purchased specifically for the action
For some topics, in line with the Clean Hydrogen JU SRIA, mostly large-scale demonstrators or flagship projects specific equipment, infrastructure or other assets purchased specifically for the action (or developed as part of the action tasks) can exceptionally be declared as full capitalised costs. This concerns the topics below:
3. Subcontracting
For all topics: an additional obligation regarding subcontracting has been introduced, namely that subcontracted work may only be performed in target countries set out in the call conditions.
The beneficiaries must ensure that the subcontracted work is performed in the countries set out in the call conditions.
The target countries are all Member States of the European Union and all Associated Countries.
4. Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), background and results, access rights and rights of use (article 16 and Annex 5 of the Model Grant Agreement (MGA))
An additional information obligation has been introduced for topics including standardisation activities: ‘Beneficiaries must, up to 4 years after the end of the action, inform the granting authority if the results could reasonably be expected to contribute to European or international standards’. These concerns the topics below:
described in the chapter 2.2.3.2 of the Clean Hydrogen JU 2026 Annual 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
Application form - Part B (HE CleanH2 RIA, IA)
Application form - Part B (HE CleanH2 CSA)
Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)
Standard evaluation form (HE CSA)
Guidance
HE Programme Guide
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Lump Sum MGA
Call-specific instructions
Detailed budget table (HE LS) 
Clean Hydrogen JU - Annual Work Programme 2026 (AWP 2026)
 AWP 2026
Clean Hydrogen JU - Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) 
SRIA Clean Hydrogen JU
Lump Sums Guidance
Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?"
Comprehensive information on lump sum funding in Horizon Europe 
FAQ on Call HORIZON-JU-CLEANH2-2026
FAQ Document
Additional documents:
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction
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
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
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