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Call key data

Innovative technologies and solutions to improve wind energy systems supporting the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan on wind

Funding Program

Horizon Europe: Cluster 5 - Climate, Energy and Mobility

Call number

HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D3-03

deadlines

Opening
05.05.2026

Deadline
15.09.2026 17:00

Funding rate

70% (NPO: 100%)

Call budget

€ 93,000,000.00

Estimated EU contribution per project

€ 93,000,000.00

Link to the call

ec.europa.eu

Link to the submission

ec.europa.eu

Call content

short description

This call aims to strengthen European wind energy research and innovation in line with the Strategic Energy Technology Plan by supporting new developments, validation, and large-scale demonstration activities across key priority areas such as industrialisation, digital operation and maintenance, system integration, sustainability, and floating offshore wind. It promotes strong coordination between industry, research organisations, and public actors, while also funding external innovators through open calls. The expected impact is more efficient, reliable, cost-effective, and sustainable wind energy technologies with reduced environmental impacts and increased contribution to the European energy system.

Call objectives

The action contributes to address the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan’s research and innovation priorities and targets for wind energy, as defined by the Implementation Working Group (IWG) on wind energy, the European Technology and Innovation Platform on wind energy (ETIP Wind) and the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) joint programme on wind energy.

The activities carried out by the project will pertain to the following priority R&I areas:

  1. Industrialisation, scale-up and competitiveness: mass production supported by automation and reliable supply chains, design for large volume manufacturing and deployment, design for reliable and lasting products and improved construction and installation methods, digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI) in industrial environment.
  2. Optimisation and further digitalisation of operation and maintenance: integration of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, advanced repair methodologies and new sensor technologies, interoperability among wind farm sub-systems, advanced communication technologies and cybersecurity, innovative component replacement solutions and quick connect/disconnect systems for mooring lines and inter-array cables.
  3. Wind energy system integration: definition and modelling of future system needs, advanced grid capabilities, interoperability, solutions to effectively manage curtailment, integration with energy storage technologies and hybrid plants, distributed wind energy.
  4. Sustainability and circularity: material substitution for decarbonisation, material reduction, recycling methods, lifetime extension via re-using, refurbishing and re-purposing, new decommissioning tools and methods and solutions to minimise the environmental and biodiversity impacts and optimise the socio-economic impacts.
  5. Floating offshore wind: development and demonstration of innovative technologies for offshore floating wind. Development of optimised floating wind energy systems through the integrated design of the different elements of the system, including the floater and the generation part.
  6. Research and technology infrastructures for wind energy: upgrade of existing and establishment of new infrastructures and test centres for the sector. An area of particular interest in this domain are large-scale testing facilities for offshore floating wind energy systems.
  7. Wind energy systems interactions with climate, atmosphere, ocean and geophysics: geophysical characteristics measuring and modelling, wake effect model development, climate change impact analysis
  8. Environmental and social aspects, coexistence: evolution of environmental impact assessments, spatial planning, biodiversity solutions, reduced pollution (e.g. noise and vibration, pollution due to erosion of the blades), design and implementation of practices and platforms that facilitate inclusive communication and stakeholders’ involvement, tools to map stakeholder concerns and development of practical approaches to lifecycle public participation, socialisation of wind rights, relationship between people, technology and places for all relevant social issues
  9. Emerging technologies: new concept assessment and development (e.g. multirotor concepts, tip rotor designs, ducted turbines), improved performance and efficiency of emerging/innovative wind energy systems

Structure, breakdown of activities and budget allocation

The action consists of activities directly implemented by the consortium and activities implemented through financial support to third parties. The R&I activities are divided into three challenges:

  1. Breakthrough challenge
  2. Validation challenge
  3. Demonstration challenge

The breakthrough and the validation challenge can be carried out both through activities directly implemented by the core consortium and through FSTP activities.

The breakthrough challenge entails actions to develop new and potentially disruptive solutions, tools and new knowledge to increase the competitiveness of the wind energy sector and on the acceleration of wind energy deployment at scale both off- and onshore, including with experimental proof of concept, as well as with validation both in laboratory and relevant environment, as appropriate. Concepts and technologies initially developed through the breakthrough challenge could be further matured through the validation challenge.

The validation challenge entails actions to validate technologies, tools and innovative solutions, both in a laboratory and in a relevant environment that have been developed in the project but also developed previously and separately in other European and national projects. For the validation, the project can consider different use cases (e.g. onshore, offshore).

The demonstration challenge entails demonstration activities to accelerate the take up of innovation by the industry, in line with the priorities set by the SET Plan (activities up to TRL 7-8). It will solely be implemented by the core consortium.

The total maximum amount of EU funding for the demonstration activities is expected to be 50 million Euros.

The project is expected to implement at least 3 demonstration activities. The focus of each demonstration activity should be clearly different from each other. The proposed solutions should be demonstrated for a continuous period of at least 6 months.

The project is expected to include a clear go/no go milestone, for each demonstration activity, before entering the deployment phase. Before each go/no-go milestone, the project is expected to show evidence of having in place i) all needed permits for deployment, ii) complete, detailed and realistic engineering plans, compliant with the applicable standards and iii) a complete business and implementation plan. The project proposal is expected to present a clear and convincing pathway to obtain necessary permits for the demonstration activities and allow for appropriate timelines to achieve these. The project proposal is also expected to demonstrate how it will get a financial close for each demonstration activity. For this, the use of other EU/national/regional support mechanisms can be considered.

Privileged research and innovation areas for the demonstration challenge are the ones listed from a. to f. in the scope: a. industrialisation, scale-up and competitiveness, b. optimisation and further digitalisation of operation and maintenance, c. wind energy system integration, d. sustainability and circularity, e. floating offshore wind and f. research and technology infrastructures for wind energy.

Activities directly implemented by the core consortium

The activities of the core consortium are expected to include the implementation of direct research and innovation activities in any of the areas listed in scope and in any of the challenges (breakthrough, validation, demonstration). The core consortium will be responsible for the management of the whole project, including the actions carried out through financial support to third parties (management of the FSTP calls, management of the FSTP projects). It is expected that the budget dedicated to the project management will not exceed 7% of the EU funding.

Activities implemented through Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP)

A share of the EU funding will be implemented through financial support to third parties and used to support research organizations, academia, start-ups, scale-ups, SME’s, industries and other entities and to enable use-cases that are not yet identified in the proposal stage.

The use of financial support to third parties should allow a faster implementation of research and innovation activities, attracting different stakeholders and innovators to develop and validate new technological solutions in the wind sector and respond quickly to new challenges. A tiered approach to address complex R&I challenges should be adopted via FSTP calls, meaning that projects with a relatively short duration should be supported (e.g. 12-18 months). A given action supported by FSTP can be implemented by one third party or by a (small) consortium of entities. Subsequent FSTP calls can be used to give further support to successful initiatives. The calls should be planned carefully and ensure that successful R&I work can continue without major interruption.

The demonstration challenge is excluded from FSTP calls.

For the FSTP calls, the following should be taken into account:

  1. Breakthrough challenge: The proposal should include consecutive FSTP calls for the development of breakthrough technologies and innovative solutions in support of the long-term R&I challenges. Up to 8 million EUR of the EU requested contribution should be used to set up this ‘Breakthrough technologies’ challenge for third parties. The FSTP breakthrough challenge should aim at attracting innovative entities that does not necessarily have the capacity to apply directly for EU grants.
  2. Validation challenge: The proposal should include consecutive FSTP calls for the validation of innovative technologies/solutions developed in the breakthrough challenge or from earlier R&I projects. Up to 16 million EUR of the EU requested contribution is expected to be used for subsequent FSTP calls. FSTP will be used to engage other entities not earlier identified.

The first FSTP call for the breakthrough challenge should be published in the first year of the project. The FSTP calls for the validation challenge must be published in a later stage considering the experience and the results of the breakthrough challenge and/or the core project R&I activities. The duration of the actions supported by FSTP should not be longer than 18 months.

The activities carried out through FSTP calls can pertain to any of the research and innovation areas listed in scope. The applicants must clearly describe in their proposal the objectives and the expected results of the FSTP call.

For the FSTP calls, the consortium is expected to take into account the provisions on ‘financial support to third parties’ set out in Annex B of the General Annexes and incorporate them into the proposal. The consortium should consider specifically elements within the FSTP schemes to address broad EU geographical balance.

The FSTP calls should be open to any public or private entities, including SMEs.

Applicants are advised to consult the European Commission’s guidance on FSTP activities.

Governance of the project

The project will have to set out how and with what frequency the calls for proposals to be funded through financial support to third parties (FSTP) are organised and how the evaluation of these proposals is carried out. The core project consortium needs to define the selection criteria and the process and criteria of organisations, for which financial support may be granted, ensuring compliance with the FSTP rules under Horizon Europe. The proposal should describe clearly the methodology to implement the various steps of the FSTP calls, define the specifications of the stages of the competitions, timelines, targets, KPIs and a solid evaluation methodology including evaluation criteria. The consortium is also responsible for ensuring high visibility of the FSTP calls.

The core consortium is expected to demonstrate proven experience in sound financial management of large projects, including public procurement and/or calls and grants to support third parties, in particular for the beneficiaries that will manage the FSTP calls.

The project sets up an Advisory Board, composed of experts in wind energy systems’ research and innovation, representing public and private entities that are independent from the beneficiaries of the project. A representation of the SET Plan Implementation Working Group (IWG) on Wind Energy, the Clean Energy Transition Cofund Partnership related initiative and of the European Commission should be as well part of the Advisory Board. The Advisory Board advises the project to ensure coherence and alignment with the SET Plan activities and goals. The consortium will ensure that the advice of the Advisory Board is appropriately taken into account in the project’s implementation. This will be monitored by the granting authority.

The proposal should define mechanisms to assess and demonstrate progress (with qualitative and quantitative key performance indicators (KPIs), benchmarking and progress monitoring). Besides defining and tracking progress of technology-specific KPIs in the technology areas specifically covered, the project should monitor and report on the contribution towards the high-level SET Plan KPIs defined by the SET Plan community in the wind energy sector. The project should report the progress of all its R&I activities according to these mechanisms and KPIs with an annual deliverable and milestone for the project execution according to plan.

The consortium will have to present a clear risk and mitigation plan. In this plan special attention should be paid to the risk that the chosen demonstration actions will not reach a go-decision.

In the project proposal, the consortium will have to describe all challenges and actions for the whole duration of the project, including the activities to be carried out directly by the core consortium and the ones carried out through financial support to third parties (FSTP). A given action supported by such FSTP scheme can be implemented by one third party or a by consortium of entities.

As regards data management, in addition to fulfilling the standard research data management and open access requirements in line with the Grant Agreement provisions, the project is expected to set up a platform, possibly re-using an already existing one, to ensure the accessibility and maintenance of the data generated by the project. The platform should be able to organise and host data generated by other research and innovation projects on wind energy. Particular efforts should be made to ensure that the data produced in the context of this topic is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable)

The consortium should define measures to maximise the impact of the successful project and for that will contribute to the relevant Knowledge Community and Impact Network of the Clean Energy Transition Partnership and share communicable results with the European R&D community.

Cooperation with International Energy Agency (IEA) Technology Collaboration Programme (TCP) on wind energy systems

For activities carried out that are also covered by relevant initiatives under the International Energy Agency Technology Cooperation Programme for wind energy systems, proposals should envisage liaising with these initiatives to consider possible synergies, cooperation and mutual sharing of knowledge.

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Expected results

Project results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes:

  • Advance in the achievement of the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan’s research and innovation priorities and targets for wind energy;
  • Efficient and effective support to wind energy research and innovation through alignment and cooperation among different actors, avoiding fragmentation of efforts;
  • Energy producers and consumers benefit from increased performance of wind energy technologies with the focus on efficiency and flexibility, reduced cost, improved reliability and sustainability, operation and maintenance, safety, robustness and security during all stages of the lifetime of a wind energy farm from installation, operation and maintenance to decommissioning;
  • Increased contribution of wind energy to the energy system, with minimal impacts on health and the environment (notably biodiversity and pollution) and at the lowest possible cost.

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Eligibility Criteria

Regions / countries for funding

Candidate Countries, EU Member States, Eastern Partnership, Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT)
Faeroes (Føroyar / Færøerne), Iceland (Ísland), Israel (ישראל / إِسْرَائِيل), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), Liechtenstein, Morocco (المغرب), Norway (Norge), Switzerland (Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera), Tunisia (تونس /Tūnis), United Kingdom

eligible entities

EU Body, Education and training institution, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)

Mandatory partnership

Yes

Project Partnership

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:

  • the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions;
  • the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States;
  • countries associated to Horizon Europe; Albania, Arab Republic of Egypt, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Republic of Korea, Serbia, Switzerland, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom;
  • the following low- and middle-income countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Congo (Democratic Republic), Congo (Republic), Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt (Arab Republic), El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic), Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea (Democratic People's Republic), Kyrgyz Republic, Lao (People’s Democratic Republic), Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia (Federated States), Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic), Vietnam, Yemen Republic, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Legal entities which are established in countries not listed above will be eligible for funding if provided for in the specific call/topic conditions, or if their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority.

Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non associated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call/topic.

A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.

Unless otherwise provided for in the specific call/topic conditions, only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:

  • at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and
  • at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.

As affiliated entities do not sign the grant agreement, they do not count towards the minimum eligibility criteria for consortium composition (if any).

In line with the “restriction on control in innovation actions in critical technology areas” delineated in General Annex B of the General Annexes, entities established in an eligible country but which are directly or indirectly controlled by China or by a legal entity established in China are not eligible to participate in the action.

other eligibility criteria

Specific cases

Affiliated entities — Affiliated entities (i.e. entities with a legal or capital link to a beneficiary which participate in the action with similar rights and obligations to the beneficiaries, but which do not sign the grant agreement and therefore do not become beneficiaries themselves) are allowed, if they are eligible for participation and funding.

Associated partners — Associated partners (i.e. entities which participate in the action without signing the grant agreement, and without the right to charge costs or claim contributions) are allowed, subject to any specific call/topic conditions.

Entities without legal personality — Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees to protect the EU’s financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons.

EU bodies — Legal entities created under EU law including decentralised agencies may be part of the consortium, unless provided for otherwise in their basic act.

International organisations — International European research organisations are eligible to receive funding. International organisations with headquarters in a Member State or Associated Country are eligible to receive funding for ‘Training and mobility’ actions or when provided for in the specific call/topic conditions. Other international organisations are not eligible to receive funding, unless provided for in the specific call/topic conditions, or if their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority.

Joint Research Centre (‘JRC’) — Where provided for in the specific call/topic conditions, applicants may include in their proposals the possible contribution of the JRC, but the JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal. Applicants will indicate the contribution that the JRC could bring to the project based on the scope of the topic text. After the evaluation process, the JRC and the consortium selected for funding may come to an agreement on the specific terms of the participation of the JRC. If an agreement is found, the JRC may accede to the grant agreement as beneficiary requesting zero funding or participate as an associated partner, and would accede to the consortium as a member.

Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members (e.g. European research infrastructure consortia (ERICs)) may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. However, if the action is in practice implemented by the individual members, those members should also participate either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities (otherwise their costs will NOT be eligible).

EU restrictive measures — Entities subject to EU restrictive measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) as well as Article 75 TFEU, are not eligible to participate in any capacity, including as beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, third parties giving in-kind contributions, subcontractors or recipients of financial support to third parties (if any).

Legal entities established in Russia, Belarus, or in non-government controlled territories of Ukraine — Given the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the involvement of Belarus, there is currently no appropriate context allowing the implementation of the actions foreseen in this programme with legal entities established in Russia, Belarus, or in non-government controlled territories of Ukraine. Therefore, even where such entities are not subject to EU restrictive measures, such legal entities are not eligible to participate in any capacity. This includes participation as beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, third parties giving in-kind contributions, subcontractors or recipients of financial support to third parties (if any). Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis for justified reasons.

With specific regard to measures addressed to Russia, following the adoption of the Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1745 of 24 June 2024 (amending Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 of 31 July 2014) concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine, legal entities established outside Russia whose proprietary rights are directly or indirectly owned for more than 50% by a legal person, entity or body established in Russia are also not eligible to participate in any capacity.

Measures for the protection of the Union budget against breaches of the principles of the rule of law in Hungary — Following the Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506, as of 16 December 2022, no legal commitments can be entered into with Hungarian public interest trusts established under the Hungarian Act IX of 2021 or any entity they maintain. Affected entities may continue to apply to calls for proposals and can participate without receiving EU funding, as associated partners, if allowed by the call conditions. However, as long as the Council measures are not lifted, such entities are not eligible to participate in any funded role (beneficiaries, affiliated entities, subcontractors, recipients of financial support to third parties, etc.). In the case of multi-beneficiary grant calls, applicants will be invited to remove or replace that entity in any funded role and/or to change its status into associated partner. Tasks and budget may be redistributed accordingly.

Additional information

Topics

Digitalisation, Digital Society, ICT, 
Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy

Relevance for EU Macro-Region

EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region

UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)

project duration

60 months

Additional Information

Applications must be submitted electronically via the Funders & Tenders Portal electronic submission system (accessible via the topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section). Paper submissions are NOT possible.

Applications must be submitted using the forms provided inside the electronic submission system (not the templates available on the topic page, which are only for information). The structure and presentation must correspond to the instructions given in the forms.

Applications must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents.

Applications must include a plan for the exploitation and dissemination of results including communication activities, unless provided otherwise in the specific call/topic conditions. The plan is not required for applications at the first stage of two-stage procedures. If the expected exploitation of the results entails developing, creating, manufacturing and marketing a product or process, or in creating and providing a service, the plan must include a strategy for such exploitation. If the plan provides for exploitation of the results primarily in non-associated third countries, the applicants must explain how that exploitation is to be considered in the EU’s interest.

The application form will have two parts:

  • Part A (to be filled in directly online) contains administrative information about the applicant organisations (future coordinator and beneficiaries and affiliated entities), the summarised budget for the proposal and call-specific questions;
  • Part B (to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system) contains the technical description of the project.

Annexes and supporting documents will be directly available in the submission system and must be uploaded as PDF files (or other formats allowed by the system).

The limit for a full application (Part B) is 60 pages.

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).

Activities are expected to achieve TRL 6-8 by the end of the project.

Beneficiaries must provide financial support to third parties (FSTP). The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 1 000 000. This is necessary to appropriately conduct the activities in scope of this topic, namely, to contribute to the development of costly and complex components and use costly research and technology infrastructures in the wind sector. These activities are as well labour intensive and need specialised skills. As the topic envisages subsequent FSTP calls to progressively develop a given solution, the maximum amount to be granted to each party needs to be sufficiently high to cater for cases where a given legal entity may receive more than one FSTP grant.

Call documents

Horizon Europe Work Programme 2026-2027 Cluster 5 - Climate, Energy and MobilityHorizon Europe Work Programme 2026-2027 Cluster 5 - Climate, Energy and Mobility(2457kB)

Contact

National Contact Points for Horizon Europe
Website

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