RFCS-2026-01-PDP Coal Pilot and demonstration projects
RFCS-2026-01-PDP funds pilot and demonstration projects to advance coal technology from TRL 4-5 to 7-8, bridging research and innovation.
This call supports pilot and demonstration projects in the coal sector. Projects should develop installations from pilot scale to industrial scale. The goal is to advance technology readiness and assess industrial, economic, social, and environmental benefits.
Likely relevant for
- Coal industry technology developers
- Research institutions in coal technology
- Environmental impact mitigation projects
- Industrial-scale demonstration projects
Project signals
What it funds
- Pilot projects for construction, operation, and development of coal installations at pilot scale
- Demonstration projects for construction and/or operation of industrial-scale coal installations
- Projects aiming to bridge research and innovation gap in coal technology
- Projects starting at TRL 4-5 and reaching TRL 7-8 by project end
Expected outcomes
- Industrial, economic, social, and environmental benefits assessment
- Advancement of coal technology readiness levels
- Improved coal sector infrastructure and processes
Who can apply / participate
- Research organisations
- Industry participants
- Consortia involving multiple partners
- Check call document section 6 for consortium eligibility and composition rules
- Eligible countries as described in section 6 of call document
- Proposals must comply with Council Decision 2008/376/EC objectives for coal
- Applicants must meet financial and operational capacity requirements
- Exact consortium size and composition
- Specific eligible countries list
Must check before shortlisting
- Eligibility criteria in section 6 of call document
- Consortium requirements if any
- Funding rates and budget details
Money
Approximate budget of €2.88 million for 2026 for this call action.
- Total budget for RFCS-2026-01-PDP action — 2880000EURBudget for pilot and demonstration projects in coal sector for 2026
Application notes
- Single-stage submission model.
- Proposal page limits and layout as per section 5 of call document and Part B of Application Form.
- Eligibility conditions in section 6 of call document.
- Financial and operational capacity requirements in section 7 of call document.
- Evaluation and award criteria in sections 8 and 9 of call document.
- Legal and financial set-up described in section 10 of call document.
- Prepare proposal according to call document and application form templates.
- Submit proposal via Funding & Tenders Portal before deadline.
- Include assessment of expected industrial, economic, social, and environmental benefits.
- Ensure compliance with Council Decision 2008/376/EC objectives.
- Check detailed eligibility and admissibility conditions in call document.
- Review evaluation criteria and scoring thresholds carefully.
- Confirm consortium and budget rules before submission.
Derived from official EU Funding portal source · updated 22 Jun 2026, 17:20 UTC. Use this as a shortlisting aid; the official call text remains authoritative.
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Official source text
Fine print from the EU source record. Expand when you need the original wording.
Topic description
Expected Impact: Each proposal must include an assessment of the expected industrial, economic, social and environmental benefits (Article 26 of Council Decision 2008/376/EC). Objective: Proposals submitted under this topic should relate to one or more of the RFCS objectives for coal as set out in Council Decision 2008/376/EC . Scope: Pilot projects target the construction, operation and development of installations on an appropriate scale. Demonstration projects cover the construction and/or operation of industrial-scale installations.Both pilot and demonstration projects aim to bridge the gap between research and innovation. Pilot and demonstration activities are expected to start at TRL 4-5 and achieve TRL 7-8 by the end of the project.
Conditions and documents
Conditions
1. Admissibility conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
described in section 5 of the call document.
Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
2. Eligible countries
described in section 6 of the call document.
3. Other eligibility conditions
described in section 6 of the call document.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
described in section 7 of the call document.
5a. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
described section 8 of the call document and the Online Manual.
5b. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
described in section 9 of the call document.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
described in section 4 of the call document.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
described in section 10 of the call document.
Call document and annexes:
Application form templates
Standard application form (RFCS) — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Additional documents:
Support information
For help related to this call, please contact REA-RFCS@ec.europa.eu Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – Submission of proposals . IT Helpdesk – Contact the IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc. Online Manual – Step-by-step online guide through the Portal processes from proposal preparation and evaluation to reporting on your ongoing project. Valid for all 2021-2027 programmes.
Raw budget overview
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