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Application period started for EUR 212m EU renewable energy funding round

Application period started for EUR 212m EU renewable energy funding round EU Commission, Brussels (source: flickr/ Andrew Gustar, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 3 Nov 2017

The European Union Commission has announced the opening of the application round for a EUR212.5 million (ca $250 million) package available to renewable energy projects, with plenty opportunities for geothermal projects.

The European Union Commission under its Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) has announced the opening of the application round for a EUR212.5 million (ca $250 million) package available to renewable energy projects. The application period started October 31, 2017 – candidates can submit their proposals until 31 January 2018 (two-stage call) or 13 February 2018 (single-stage call).

Applicants can apply for funding in eight energy topics under the 2018-2020 Horizon 2020 Work Programme that are now open for proposal submission. The total available funding is EUR212.5 million ($250 million).

The topics open for applications are:

  • LC-SC3-RES-4-2018:  Renewable energy system integrated at the building scale (overall budget: EUR27.5m, two-stage application process)
  • LC-SC3-RES-5-2018:  Increased performance of technologies for local heating and cooling solutions (overall budget: EUR10 m, single-stage application process)
  • LC-SC3-RES-6-2018:  Demonstrate significant cost reduction for Building Integrated PV (BIPV) solutions (overall budget: EUR30 m, single-stage application process)
  • LC-SC3-RES-11-2018: Developing solutions to reduce the cost and increase performance of renewable technologies (overall budget: EUR30 m, two-stage application process)
  • LC-SC3-RES-12-2018:  Demonstrate highly performant renewable technologies for combined heat and power (CHP) generation and their integration in the EU’s energy system (overall budget: EUR30 m, single-stage application process)
  • LC-SC3-RES-13-2018:  Demonstrate solutions that significantly reduce the cost of renewable power generation (overall budget: EUR45 m, single-stage application process)
  • LC-SC3-RES-21-2018:  Development of next generation biofuels and alternative renewable fuel technologies for road transport (overall budget: EUR25 m, single-stage application process)
  • LC-SC3-RES-28-2018-2019-2020:  Market Uptake support (overall budget: EUR15 m, single-stage application process)

For topics with a single-stage submission process, the deadline for application is 13 February 2018. The results of the selection will be announced not later than 13 July 2018.

For topics with a two-stage submission process, candidates should submit their short proposal no later than 31 January 2018. They will be then informed within three months after the topic’s deadline if they have qualified to the second stage of the selection process. If so, they will be invited to submit a full project proposal by 23 August 2018. The final decision about which projects will receive EU funding will be known the latest by 23 January 2019.

The focus of the above funding opportunities is to support research and innovation activities in relation with renewable energy. Please note that there might be further EU funding opportunities in energy research announced on the Participant Portal.

What are the requirements for participation?

The requirements for submitting a research proposal are detailed in the relevant call documents published on each topic page. Please also consult the General Annexes

of the H2020 Work Programme for 2018-2020 for general rules on funding, such as the list of countries that can apply for funding, standard eligibility criteria, submission rules, types of projects and their funding rates and other useful information.

How to apply?

Applicants have to submit their proposal electronically, following the link from the topic page on the Participant Portal. Please follow the guidelines on proposal submission and evaluation. For all questions related to Horizon 2020, please contact the Research Enquiry Service.

How will the grants be awarded?

The submitted proposals are evaluated by external experts drawn from the European Commission’s independent expert database. Applicants will receive the evaluation results at the latest five months after the submission deadline. Grant agreements will be signed with the successful applicants within eight months after the submission deadline.

Become an expert

External evaluators of project proposals are drawn from the European Commission’s independent expert database. The Commission is looking to expand the database through a call for experts covering a very broad range of fields. If you fit the expert profile rather than that of an applicant, and would like to be considered as a proposal evaluator, sign up in the Participant Portal.

Source: EU Commission (INEA)