HORIZON-CL5-2027-02-D3-30

Advancements in Direct Air Capture

Status
forthcoming
Programme
Horizon Europe (HORIZON)
Action type
HORIZON Innovation Actions
Opens
3 Dec 2026
Deadline
31 Mar 2027
Fetched
15 Jul 2026, 07:18 UTC
Plain-language summary

Funding for scaling up Direct Air Capture technologies to pilot demonstration level with improved efficiency and environmental assessment.

This call supports projects that advance Direct Air Capture (DAC) technologies to at least pilot demonstration stage (TRL 7+). It focuses on improving cost efficiency, material performance, and flexible operation using renewable energy. Projects must include life cycle assessments of environmental impacts and may cooperate internationally.

Likely relevant for

  • Clean tech innovators
  • Carbon capture technology developers
  • Environmental technology researchers
  • Renewable energy system integrators

Project signals

Pilot demonstration of DAC systemsImproved sorbent/solvent regeneration processesInnovations in air contactor designUse of renewable energy for flexible operation

What it funds

  • Scaling up existing Direct Air Capture technologies to pilot demonstration (TRL 7+)
  • Improving cost efficiency of capture and regeneration processes
  • Enhancing material performance, durability, and process design
  • Demonstrating manufacturing scale-up potential including recycling and reuse
  • Flexible operation under intermittent renewable energy supply
  • Life cycle assessment of environmental impacts of DAC systems

Expected outcomes

  • Accelerated commercial availability of Direct Air Capture technologies
  • Validated improvements in cost and material performance
  • Demonstrated pilot-scale DAC systems in relevant environments
  • Comprehensive environmental impact assessments

Who can apply / participate

  • Research organisations
  • Industry including SMEs and large enterprises
  • Universities
  • Public bodies
  • Consortium composition details must be checked in the specific call documents
  • Legal entities established in China are not eligible
  • Check eligibility of non-EU/non-associated countries
  • Participants must comply with Horizon Europe general eligibility conditions
  • Use of Copernicus and Galileo/EGNOS data if satellite data involved
  • Exact consortium size and composition requirements
  • Specific funding rates and lump sum eligibility

Must check before shortlisting

  • Eligibility of participant countries especially regarding China restrictions
  • Specific consortium composition rules
  • Exact funding rates and lump sum conditions

Money

Total budget of approximately €16 million for 2 expected grants in 2027 under this call. Funding is provided as lump sums.

  • Total budget for 2027 — 16000000EUR
    For 2 expected grants, each with a maximum contribution of €8 million.

Application notes

  • Single-stage submission model with proposal page limits and layout as per Horizon Europe General Annexes.
  • Proposal page limits and layout described in Annex A and E of Horizon Europe General Annexes
  • Eligible countries listed in Annex B of Horizon Europe General Annexes
  • Financial and operational capacity requirements in Annex C
  • Evaluation criteria and process in Annex D and F
  • Lump sum grant conditions as per Decision of 7 July 2021
  • Prepare proposal according to application form templates in Submission System
  • Submit before deadline 31 March 2027
  • Follow evaluation and award procedures described in General Annexes and Online Manual
  • Legal entities established in China are not eligible
  • Check specific topic conditions in the Work Programme
  • Use of Copernicus and Galileo/EGNOS data if applicable

Derived from official EU Funding portal source · updated 2 Jul 2026, 09:58 UTC. Use this as a shortlisting aid; the official call text remains authoritative.

Related calls

These funding calls are closely related and may be worth considering as part of the same funding landscape.

Official source text

Fine print from the EU source record. Expand when you need the original wording.

Topic description

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcome: Accelerating the commercial availability of Direct Air Capture technologies. Scope: Projects are expected to aim at scaling up existing technical solutions to at least the level of pilot demonstration in relevant environments (TRL 7 or higher). Projects are expected to demonstrate: Improving the cost efficiency of the capture and regeneration process, including Balance of Plant; Improving material performance and process designs (e.g. capture/desorption capacity and kinetics, durability, long-term stability in air); Potential for manufacturing and scale-up (recycling and reuse of materials); Flexible operation under intermittent or surplus renewable energy supply. Depending on the technology, other important issues to address are: Reducing energy use for sorbent/solvent regeneration; Alternative materials for - and approaches to - CO2 separation; Development and demonstration of materials in particular for DAC systems operating in cold temperatures or under humid conditions, or in areas with severe air pollution; Accuracy of simulated predictions compared to validation experiments; New designs for efficient, high-flux air contactors, optimised for maximum air contact. Projects must develop a comprehensive life cycle assessment to evaluate the environmental implications of the entire DAC system, from material extraction and use, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions through to end-of-life. The use of the European Research Infrastructure for CO2 Capture, Utilisation, Transport and Storage ECCSEL is encouraged but not mandatory. International cooperation with participating countries of the Mission Innovation Carbon Dioxide Removal Mission [1] is encouraged. 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. [1] Carbon Dioxide Removal – Mission Innovation (mission-innovation.net)

Destination

This Destination includes activities targeting a sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply. In line with the scope of cluster 5, this includes activities in the areas of renewable energy; energy system, grids and storage; as well as Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS). This Destination contributes directly to the Strategic Plan’s Key Strategic Orientations ‘ Green transition ’, ‘ Digital transition ’ and ‘ A more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe ’. In line with the Strategic Plan, the overall expected impact of this Destination is to contribute to the ‘Ensuring more sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply through solutions for smart energy systems based on renewable energy solutions’ . This destination contributes to the activities of the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) and its implementation working groups. The main impacts to be generated by topics under this Destination are: Renewable energy Energy producers have access to efficient and competitive European renewable energy and renewable fuel technologies with a solid knowledge base and are able to deploy them to enhance the EU’s energy security and reach its climate neutrality objectives, in a sustainable way in environmental (e.g., biodiversity, multiple uses of land and water, natural resources, pollution) and socioeconomic terms, and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. Technology providers have access to European, competitive, resilient, reliable, sustainable, and affordable value chains of renewable energy and renewable fuel technologies including emerging ones, and with strong export potential to supply both the EU internal and global markets. They benefit also from circular renewable energy technologies that are safe and sustainable by design with reduced and diversified external dependence on critical raw materials [1] . Economic sectors benefit from better integration of renewable energy and renewable fuel-based solutions that are, among others, competitive, cost-effective, efficient, flexible, reliable, and sustainable. Such integration is facilitated through digitalisation and integration of artificial intelligence of renewable energy technologies that provide network stability and reliability. European industries benefit from a reinforced export potential of renewable energy and renewable fuel technologies, also through international partnerships, and become more competitive in innovative renewable energy technologies in Europe and globally. European researchers benefit from a stronger community and from a reinforced scientific basis on renewable energy and renewable fuel technologies including emerging ones, also through international collaborations. European citizens have access to an energy market that is fair and equitable, more resilient, uses all different types of local renewable energy resources, and is less dependent on fossil fuels imports. Citizens experience less fuel and energy poverty, and also benefit from new employment and upskilling opportunities. Local communities benefit from a more decentralized, affordable, and secure energy system and from multiple uses of land and water. Energy systems, grids and storage R&I actions will support the just digital and green transformation of the energy system through advanced solutions for accelerating the energy systems integration and decarbonisation . The developed clean, sustainable solutions will contribute to making the energy system work better for actors and supply more reliable, resilient and secure energy – even under increasingly more frequent extreme climate events. The solutions developed will contribute to increase flexibility and grid hosting capacity for renewables through optimizing cross sector integration and grid scale storage as well as cover off-grid situations. They will improve the preparedness of the electricity system to support the EU's binding target for 2030 of minimum of 42.5% renewables in the gross final energy consumption (with the aspiration to reach 45%), and full decarbonisation by 2050. They will enable further electrification of demand and will enhance the competitiveness of the European value chain , reduce pressure on resources (also by making technologies ‘circular by design’) and decrease dependencies. Such solutions would also enable a better EU resilience to climate risks. The solutions will improve consumer awareness and engagement in the energy transition, via innovative offers and services (e.g. demand response, energy communities) and will target different types of consumers, including “hard to reach” population groups (such as energy poor or low-income households). This will result in increased trust in, and uptake of the new products and services entering the energy system. Carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) Accelerated deployment of carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) as a CO2 emission mitigation option in electricity generation and/or in industry applications, as well as carbon dioxide removal for negative emissions. Legal entities established in China are not eligible to participate in both Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) and Innovation Actions (IAs) falling under this destination. For additional information please see “Restrictions on the participation of legal entities established in China” found in General Annex B of the General Annexes. [1] For an example of a methodology for the assessment of sustainability, circularity and contribution to EU resilience and technological autonomy of clean energy technology in the R&I pipeline, please see Study on circular approaches for a sustainable and affordable clean energy transition

Conditions and documents

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]

Support information

Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant. Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe. Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management. Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular. National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’). Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding. IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc. European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues. CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk – the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal. The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers. Partner Search help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.

Raw budget overview
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