Key funding opportunities for your clean energy project under the CETP 2026 call

The CETPartnership Joint Call 2026 is a transnational R&D&I funding opportunity under the Clean Energy Transition Partnership, co-funded by Horizon Europe. Its objective is to select collaborative projects that accelerate the transition to clean energy and contribute to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The call has an indicative budget of around €84 million, provided by 35 national and regional funding organisations from approximately 30 countries. Funding is awarded through a decentralised model: each beneficiary partner receives support from its own national or regional funding body, in accordance with that organisation’s specific rules.

“This means that it is not enough for a project to be scientifically or technologically excellent; each partner must also comply simultaneously with the requirements of its national or regional funding organisation,” explains Natxo de Marco, Head of the Energy knowledge area within European Projects at Zabala Innovation. Indeed, “many technically strong consortia fail because of eligibility issues and incompatibilities between national funding agencies. This is where our consultancy provides distinctive added value from day one,” he adds.

“The CETP call represents a strategic opportunity for Spanish companies, technology centres and research organisations to join high-impact European clean energy consortia,” says Beatriz Ortega, European Programmes Consultant at Zabala Innovation. Although the success rate is generally higher than in other Horizon Europe calls (15% last year), “success depends not only on fitting technically within one of the thematic areas but also on building a strong transnational proposal aligned from the outset with the rules of the relevant funding organisation in Spain, as well as those of the funding bodies in the other participating countries,” she emphasises. According to Ortega, “a thorough analysis of transnational compatibility at the pre-proposal stage can significantly increase the chances of success”.

Main features of the CETP 2026 call

Objectives

The primary objective is to support transnational research, development and innovation projects capable of delivering scientific, technological, economic and societal impact. The call seeks to reduce fragmentation within the European energy innovation ecosystem, align national, regional and European priorities, and generate solutions with greater impact than purely national initiatives.

Projects are expected to contribute to decarbonisation, energy system resilience, security of supply, renewable energy integration, industrial competitiveness and social acceptance of new solutions. They should generate transferable and exploitable results, involving relevant stakeholders such as industry, public authorities, system operators, end users and need owners. Applicants must also address cross-cutting dimensions including open science, communication, exploitation of results, gender equality, ethics, the Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) principle, and the responsible use of generative AI tools.

Thematic areas

The call is organised into 11 thematic areas, known as modules, covering both technological and systemic challenges related to the energy transition:

• Integrated energy system resilience
• Energy system flexibility in scenarios with high renewable energy penetration
• Advanced renewable electricity generation technologies at the research stage
• Advanced renewable electricity generation technologies closer to innovation, demonstration and industrial deployment
• Carbon management in industry
• Hydrogen and renewable fuels
• Stationary battery technologies and systems for a climate-neutral industry and construction sector
• Heating and cooling technologies
• Integrated regional energy systems
• Integrated industrial energy systems
• Clean energy integration in the built environment

Each module defines its own international scope, expected impacts, consortium requirements, indicative budget, technology readiness levels (TRLs) and eligible activities. Selecting the appropriate module is therefore a strategic decision and should be assessed alongside the requirements of the relevant funding organisations, as additional national or regional conditions may also apply.

Beneficiaries and evaluation criteria

Proposals must be submitted by a transnational consortium. At a minimum, each consortium must include at least three eligible partners, including a coordinator, from three different countries participating in the selected module. At least two of these partners must come from EU Member States or countries associated with Horizon Europe.

No single partner may account for more than 60% of the project’s total effort, and partners from the same country may not collectively exceed 75% of the total effort, measured in person-months. Projects must start no later than 15 December 2027 and may last for a maximum of 36 months. As a general indication, supported projects typically run between 12 and 36 months and request total funding between €500,000 and €5 million, although specific modules and funding organisations may establish different ranges.

The international evaluation follows the three Horizon Europe award criteria: excellence, impact, and quality and efficiency of implementation. Each criterion is scored on a scale from 0 to 5. To be eligible for funding, a proposal must achieve at least 3 points in each criterion and a minimum overall score of 10 out of 15.

Alongside the international evaluation process, it is essential that each partner maintains close contact with its funding organisation during proposal preparation to ensure compliance with all national or regional eligibility requirements. As De Marco points out, “experience shows that a significant proportion of proposals lose funding opportunities because incompatibilities between partners, budgets or national rules are identified too late.” For this reason, “early validation of eligibility and consortium composition is one of the most critical stages of proposal preparation,” he stresses.

Application process

The application process consists of two stages. The first stage is the pre-proposal phase, with a submission deadline of 8th October 2026. Applicants will be informed of the outcome at the beginning of January 2027. Only invited proposals may proceed to the second stage, the full proposal phase, which opens on 8 January 2027 and closes on 11 March 2027. Final funding decisions are expected by mid-June 2027.

Proposals must be submitted in English through the CETPartnership platform using the mandatory templates. In addition, some funding organisations may require supplementary national or regional procedures, involving specific deadlines, portals or documentation. Failure to comply with any transnational, module-specific or national requirement may result in exclusion from the evaluation process.