Clean Industrial Deal

The Clean Industrial Deal is a new European strategy to support industrial decarbonisation and clean technologies. One of the distinctive features of this strategy is the launch of a specific Horizon Europe call for genuine industrial pilots.

This call supports advanced industrial pilot projects in energy-intensive industries and clean technologies, with expected EU contributions of between €15 million and €25 million per project, and a clear focus on market readiness and a go/no-go decision logic. With a deadline of 15th September 2026, the Clean Industrial Deal call is a complementary alternative to the Innovation Fund for mature industrial pilot projects that need to demonstrate their technical, operational and financial viability before commercial deployment.

Discuss your Clean Industrial Deal project See funding opportunities

Current call snapshot

This call is designed for industrial pilots with high maturity and a credible route to deployment. In 2026, the package has an indicative budget of €275 million across two topics, with expected EU contributions of €15–25 million per project. The wider 2026–2027 package reaches €540 million. Activities are expected to start at TRL 6 and reach TRL 7–8 by the end of the project.

  • 2026 indicative budget: €275 M
  • 2027 indicative budget: €265 M
  • Expected EU contribution: €15–25 M per project
  • Maturity: TRL 6 to TRL 7–8
  • Current deadline: 15th September 2026
  • Action type: Innovation Actions

Why this call is different?

Although it sits within Horizon Europe, this call does not follow the classic logic of exploratory collaborative R&D projects. It is built for real industrial pilots with advanced technical, operational and financial maturity. Proposals must include a business plan and a credible market-readiness strategy, both of which are mandatory and decisive under the impact criterion.

The call is designed to help mature pilots move towards real deployment. That means demonstrating a credible path to investment, market uptake and industrialisation, not only technological excellence.

Does my technology fit this call?
green industry

What the call funds

The current call is especially relevant for industrial pilots and fit-for-deployment projects that need strong European positioning, technical credibility and a convincing path to scale.

What applicants need to prove

Projects under the Clean Industrial Deal call must be structured around relatively small consortia, generally five to ten partners. In near-to-market demonstrator projects, evaluators look for industrial coherence and credibility in future exploitation. It is therefore advisable to structure the consortium around three pillars: the industrial company that will own or operate the plant; the technology developer, or several developers if the solution integrates different modules; and the end customer or user who will validate the solution under real operating conditions.

A defining feature of this call is the European Commission decision of go/no-go ahead of the contracting and demonstration phase. Before that point, projects are expected to deliver detailed engineering plans, a techno-economic assessment, all needed permits for the demonstrator, a complete business plan, a market-readiness strategy and a clear identification of the industrial partner or partners that will lead deployment. 

Is your industrial pilot a fit for this call?

This opportunity is best suited to projects with a very advanced maturity level that still need to validate, optimise or prove viability before full commercial deployment.

  • A credible route to Final Investment Decision.
  • A strong technical and operational maturity.
  • A robust business plan.
  • A clear market-readiness strategy.
  • A defined industrial lead.
  • A credible permitting pathway.
  • A manageable, industry-driven consortium.

If your project is still mainly exploratory, this is probably not the right entry point. If it is already close to industrial reality, it may be exactly the right one.

CID_why it matters

What is the Clean Industrial Deal?

The Clean Industrial Deal is the European Commission’s framework to strengthen Europe’s industrial competitiveness while accelerating decarbonisation. Launched on 26 February 2025, it focuses on two priorities:

  • energy-intensive industries that must decarbonise;
  • clean technologies that Europe wants to scale faster and manufacture more competitively.

It is not a single funding programme. It works through several routes at once, including Horizon Europe, the Innovation Fund, InvestEU, public procurement measures, state aid and new industrial acceleration tools. That is why companies need a clear view of both policy and funding to identify the right path for their project.

industrial pilot

Funding routes around the Clean Industrial Deal

The most relevant opportunities today sit across four main routes:

The right route depends on your project’s maturity, capital intensity, consortium logic and industrial deployment plan.

Discover our CISAF Guide

Zabala Innovation in figures

The Clean Industrial Deal industrial pilots call is new. The figures below do not refer to projects funded under this specific topic. Instead, they refer to European projects funded between 2021 and 2025 in technical areas comparable to the current Clean Industrial Deal industrial pilots call across industry and energy.

Figures across industry and energy, in technical areas comparable to the current Clean Industrial Deal industrial pilots call (2021–2025):

95

funded projects

€2.5B+

secured for clients

Energy

50

funded projects

€600M+

secured for clients

Industry

45

funded projects

€1.9B+

secured for clients

Horizon Europe

Overall Horizon Europe success rate: +40%

*EU average: 13%

This is a general corporate Horizon Europe benchmark. It is not a success-rate calculation limited to industry and energy projects comparable to the Clean Industrial Deal call.

 

How Zabala Innovation supports Clean Industrial Deal applicants

  • 1. Identification and analysis of suitable funding routes

    We assess whether your pilot is best positioned for the Clean Industrial Deal call, Innovation Fund, CISAF-related schemes or a combined funding strategy.

  • 2. Strategic positioning within EU priorities

    We align your project with European industrial decarbonisation priorities, expected outcomes and the policy logic behind the call.

  • 3. Industry-driven consortium design

    We help structure balanced consortia with the right industrial leadership, technical partners and implementation capacity.

  • 4. Technical drafting and proposal structuring

    We build a proposal narrative that connects technological maturity, industrial relevance, market logic and implementation credibility.

  • 5. Business plan, budget and investment-case modelling

    We support the development of a robust financial structure, a credible business plan and a convincing market-readiness strategy.

  • 6. Impact, exploitation and deployment pathway

    We define realistic impact pathways and exploitation plans, with a clear route towards deployment and market uptake.

  • 7. Grant Agreement preparation and negotiation

    We support the preparation and negotiation of the Grant Agreement, ensuring compliance and readiness for implementation.

  • 8. Administrative, legal and financial project management

    Once funded, we support coordinators and partners in the administrative, legal and financial management of the action.

FAQs about Clean Industrial Deal

  • What is the Clean Industrial Deal?

    The Clean Industrial Deal is the European Commission’s plan to turn decarbonisation into a driver of industrial growth and competitiveness in Europe. It was launched on 26th February 2025 and focuses especially on energy-intensive industries and the clean-tech sector.

  • Is the Clean Industrial Deal a funding programme?

    No. It is a broader framework. Funding opportunities linked to it sit across instruments such as Horizon Europe, the Innovation Fund, InvestEU and national support schemes enabled by CISAF.

     

  • What are the main goals of the Clean Industrial Deal?

    Its main goals are to lower energy costs, accelerate industrial decarbonisation, strengthen clean-tech manufacturing in Europe, boost demand for clean products, improve access to financing, reinforce circularity and raw-material resilience, and support skills and quality jobs.

  • When is the Horizon Europe CID call the right route compared with Innovation Fund?

    This call should be understood as a complementary alternative to Innovation Fund, not as a replacement. It is particularly relevant for mature pilots that still need to prove real viability in industrial conditions before full commercial deployment.

    Where Innovation Fund is associated with projects ready to invest and scale, this call creates an additional route for pilots that must still demonstrate market readiness, financial robustness and a convincing path to Final Investment Decision.

     

  • Is this call an alternative to Innovation Fund?

    It should be understood as a complementary alternative to Innovation Fund for mature industrial pilots that still need to prove real viability before full commercial deployment.

  • How will the Clean Industrial Deal impact energy-intensive industries?

    The Clean Industrial Deal is explicitly designed to support sectors such as cement, ceramics, chemicals, minerals, non-ferrous metals, pulp and paper, refining, steel, water. The European Commission presents it as a way to help these industries decarbonise, switch to clean energy and respond to high costs, complex regulation and global competition.

  • What level of maturity is expected?

    From a technical point of view, activities are expected to start at TRL 6 and achieve TRL 7 to 8 by the end of the project. But the call is designed to help mature pilots move towards real deployment, so they must demonstrate a credible path to investment, market uptake and industrialisation too, not only technological excellence.

  • What does Clean Industrial Deal 2026 mean in practice?

    In practice, under Horizon Europe, the European Commission has launched a dedicated call aligned with the Clean Industrial Deal to support advanced industrial pilot projects in energy-intensive industries and clean technologies. With expected EU contributions of €15–25 million per project, a strong market-readiness focus and a deadline of 15th September 2026, it offers a complementary alternative to the Innovation Fund for mature pilots that still need to prove their technical, operational and financial viability before commercial deployment.

  • What is the budget of the Clean Industrial Deal?

    This question needs a two-level answer.

    At framework level, the European Commission says the Clean Industrial Deal will mobilise over €100 billion, “in the short term”, to support EU-made clean manufacturing. As part of this broader policy and funding effort, the current HORIZON-CID-2026-01 call has an overall indicative budget of €275 million, split across two topics, with expected EU contributions of €15–25 million per project.

  • What does Final Investment Decision (FID) mean in this call?

    The critical milestone will be the pilot’s FID, at which point the European Commission will take a go/no-go decision based on the documentation submitted. Detailed engineering, techno-economic assessment, a full business plan, market access strategy, identification of the lead industrial partner and the relevant permits will be required. In practice, this reflects a filter typical of instruments such as the Innovation Fund, where the focus is on projects ready to invest and scale up, rather than on pure research and development.

  • What does the go/no-go moment involve?

    Before the demonstration phase, the project is expected to deliver detailed engineering, a techno-economic assessment, permits, a complete business plan, a market-readiness strategy and a clear industrial lead for deployment. The European Commission then reviews these elements and decides whether the project is sufficiently robust to proceed. If it is not satisfied, the project does not move forward (no-go).

  • What is the Clean Industrial Deal timeline?

    The key dates are: 26th February 2025 for the launch of the Clean Industrial Deal, 25th June 2025 for the adoption of CISAF, 18th December 2025 for the opening of the 2026 Horizon Europe CID call, 15th September 2026 for the 2026 call deadline, and 31st December 2030 for the end date of CISAF.

  • What is the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework?

    The Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF), is the state-aid framework adopted by the Commission on 25th June 2025. It applies until 31st December 2030 and covers measures for clean energy rollout, electricity-cost support for energy-intensive users, industrial decarbonisation, clean-tech manufacturing capacity and de-risking private investment.

  • How should I build a consortium for a Clean Industrial Deal application?

    For the current Horizon Europe CID call, projects must be structured around relatively industry-driven small consortia, generally five to ten partners.  Consortium design should be treated as a core strategic workstream from the start. It must combine industrial leadership, technology credibility, implementation capacity and a clear route to market.

  • Where can I find a Clean Industrial Deal factsheet or summary?

    The official European Commission page already provides the main Clean Industrial Deal document and links to related explanatory material.

Team related

  • Igor Idareta

    Igor Idareta

    Pamplona Office

    Team leader with expertise in sustainability European Programmes

  • Daniel Magni

    Daniel Magni

    Madrid Office

    European Projects Operations Coordinator

Meet our team

We turn your idea into European funding