Innovation Fund 2025 Net Zero Technologies - Clean-tech manufacturing

The Innovation Fund 2025 Net Zero Technologies call, identified as INNOVFUND-2025-NZT, represents an EU funding opportunity to support projects aiming for net-zero technologies within clean-tech manufacturing. This program is open for applications from December 4, 2025, to April 23, 2026, with a total budget of €2.9 billion allocated for various topics, including clean-tech manufacturing, general industrial sectors, and pilot projects. Funding is provided through INNOVFUND Lump Sum Grants, which allow for straightforward financial management via fixed amounts based on project specifications rather than actual expenditures. Applicants can receive up to 60% of relevant project costs, necessitating co-funding to cover the remaining 40% from other sources, such as private investments or national support. Eligible participants typically include large enterprises, industrial operators, and consortia that exhibit the capacity for transformative clean-tech projects. Projects must focus on advanced technological solutions aimed at significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, especially in energy-intensive industries like iron and steel, renewable energy, hydrogen production, and carbon capture technologies. The grants are intended for projects in the demonstration and early commercialization phases, requiring maturity in planning and a well-structured business model before approval. The single-stage application process will involve a comprehensive proposal submission evaluated on criteria such as technological innovation, environmental impact, and overall project feasibility. Applicants must navigate a detailed call document outlining admissibility criteria, geographic eligibility, evaluation processes, and legal frameworks relevant to the funding. The call encompasses all EU Member States as well as Liechtenstein, Iceland, and Norway, promoting a vast area for collaboration in transitioning to sustainable industrial practices. Overall, this opportunity is crucial for accelerating the deployment of innovative manufacturing technologies to meet European climate-neutral goals by 2050, providing substantial financial resources for ambitious projects capable of significant environmental impact.

The Innovation Fund 2025 Net Zero Technologies call (INNOVFUND-2025-NZT) is an EU funding opportunity under the Innovation Fund program. It supports projects contributing to net-zero technologies. The call utilizes InnovFund-LS INNOVFUND Lump Sum Grants as the type of action and INNOVFUND Lump Sum Grant [InnovFund-AG-LS] as the type of Model Grant Agreement (MGA).

The call is open for submission with a single-stage deadline model. The opening date was December 4, 2025, and the deadline for submissions is April 23, 2026, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The total budget for the call is €2,900,000,000.

The admissibility conditions, eligible countries, other eligible conditions, financial and operational capacity and exclusion, submission and evaluation processes, award criteria, scoring and thresholds, indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement, and legal and financial set-up of the grants are described in sections 5, 6, 6, 7, 8 & 11, 8 & 9, 4, and 10 of the call document, respectively.

Applicants must adhere to the proposal page limit and layout as described in section 5 of the call document. Eligible countries are detailed in section 6 of the call document, along with other eligibility conditions. The financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria are outlined in section 7. The submission and evaluation processes are described in sections 8 and 11, while the award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are in sections 8 and 9. The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is in section 4, and the legal and financial set-up of the grants is in section 10.

To access the Electronic Submission Service, applicants should click the submission button next to the relevant type of action and model grant agreement. To access existing draft proposals, applicants can log in to the Funding & Tenders Portal and select the My Proposals page in the My Area section.

For help, applicants can contact the InnovFund helpdesk for call-specific questions or the IT Helpdesk for technical issues. The Online Manual provides a step-by-step guide through the Portal processes.

In summary, this Innovation Fund call focuses on supporting projects that contribute to Net Zero Technologies through lump sum grants. It covers a range of topics including general projects, clean technology manufacturing, and pilot projects. The call provides substantial funding, has a clearly defined application process, and offers support resources for applicants. The application requires detailed documentation, including a feasibility study, business plan, and GHG emission avoidance calculations. The legal framework is based on several EU regulations and directives related to the Innovation Fund and emissions trading.

Summary:

This is a call for proposals under the Innovation Fund 2025 Net Zero Technologies (INNOVFUND-2025-NZT), offering INNOVFUND Lump Sum Grants. The call is open for submission with a deadline of April 23, 2026. The total budget for the call is €2.9 billion. The call aims to support projects related to Net Zero Technologies and Clean-tech manufacturing, including pilot projects. The application process is a single-stage submission. Applicants must submit their proposals electronically through the Funding & Tenders Portal. The call document and annexes provide detailed information on admissibility conditions, eligible countries, evaluation criteria, and the legal and financial setup of the grants. Applicants should carefully review these documents before preparing their applications. The call includes several topics: INNOVFUND-2025-NZT-GENERAL-MSP, INNOVFUND-2025-NZT-GENERAL-LSP, INNOVFUND, INNOVFUND-2025-NZT-GENERAL-SSP, and INNOVFUND-2025-NZT-PILOTS. The legal basis for this call is Decision C(2025)7674 and Annex. Several calculators are provided to calculate GHG emission avoidance for renewable electricity and heating, energy storage, energy intensive industries (EII) and mobility.