Innovation Fund 2025 Net Zero Technologies - General decarbonisation - Medium-Scale Projects

The INNOVFUND is an EU funding opportunity focusing on medium-scale innovative clean technology and low-carbon projects aimed at contributing to the EU's climate goals. The call, which opened on December 4, 2025, has a deadline for applications set for April 23, 2026, and encompasses a total budget of €2.9 billion. Projects should relate to general decarbonization and align with the objectives of the Innovation Fund. Eligible applicants include a wide range of legal entities such as startups, SMEs, large companies, universities, research organizations, and government bodies, all of which can be established in any country globally. The funding mechanism is based on lump sum grants, simplifying the payment procedures for beneficiaries by providing fixed amounts following the achievement of project milestones rather than requiring detailed cost documentation. The call does not stipulate a mandatory consortium requirement, though single or consortium applications are typical. The target sectors for funding include a variety of energy-intensive industries, renewable energy, hydrogen production, energy storage, carbon capture technologies, and others, all contributing to low-carbon technology innovation. Projects must be in the development, validation, or demonstration stages but must not have commenced construction or made legally binding commitments prior to the application. The capital expenditure for eligible projects must range between €20 million and €100 million, with grants covering a maximum of 60% of relevant costs, necessitating a minimum of 40% co-funding from other sources. Submissions should be made through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal using a standardized single-stage procedure. Complete proposals must include technical feasibility studies and financial projections. The evaluation process emphasizes innovation maturity, market viability, and climate impact potential. There are no specifics available on success rates, and the evaluation timeline extends up to 11 months post-deadline. Support is provided in the form of grants, and the extensive information within the call documents details the admissibility conditions, eligible countries, evaluation criteria, and other relevant frameworks supporting the application process. Helpdesks are available for applicants needing assistance, and a range of supporting documents, including calculators for GHG emission avoidance, are provided to help in proposal preparation.

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 general decarbonization through InnovFund-LS INNOVFUND Lump Sum Grants. The call utilizes the INNOVFUND Lump Sum Grant [InnovFund-AG-LS] model grant agreement.

The call is open for submission with a deadline of April 23, 2026, at 17:00:00 Brussels time. The submission session was made available on December 4, 2025, for the following topics: INNOVFUND, INNOVFUND-2025-NZT-GENERAL-LSP, INNOVFUND-2025-NZT-CLEAN-TECH-MANUFACTURING, INNOVFUND-2025-NZT-GENERAL-SSP, and INNOVFUND-2025-NZT-PILOTS.

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

The call includes several specific topics:INNOVFUND InnovFund-LS INNOVFUND Lump Sum Grants, INNOVFUND-2025-NZT-GENERAL-LSP InnovFund-LS INNOVFUND Lump Sum Grants, INNOVFUND-2025-NZT-CLEAN-TECH-MANUFACTURING InnovFund-LS INNOVFUND Lump Sum Grants, INNOVFUND-2025-NZT-GENERAL-SSP InnovFund-LS INNOVFUND Lump Sum Grants, and INNOVFUND-2025-NZT-PILOTS InnovFund-LS INNOVFUND Lump Sum Grants.

The admissibility conditions, eligible countries, other eligible conditions, financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria, 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 detailed in the call document, specifically in sections 5, 6, 6, 7, 8 and 11, 8 and 9, 4, and 10 respectively.

Applicants are advised to carefully read all provisions before preparing their application. Helpdesks and support services are available, including the InnovFund helpdesk for call-specific questions and the IT Helpdesk for technical issues. An online manual is also provided.

To access the Electronic Submission Service, applicants should click the submission button next to the relevant action type and model grant agreement. Confirmation of choice is required before being linked to the correct entry point. Existing draft proposals can be accessed via the Funding & Tenders Portal.

The following documents are available for the call:Call document, Methodology for calculation of GHG emission avoidance, Methodology for calculation of relevant costs, Application form and templates (for information only; use the forms in the Submission System), Application form (specific to the call, available in the Submission System), Detailed budget table/relevant cost calculator (‘financial information file’), GHG emission avoidance calculators (including examples) for renewable electricity and heating, energy storage, energy intensive industries (EII), and mobility. Applicants must choose the calculator that corresponds to their project. Additional documents include a Feasibility study, Business plan, Participant information, Timetable/Gantt chart, Extended Part C form (for statistical data collection), and a Knowledge Sharing report template.

The Model Grant Agreements (MGA) include the INNOVFUND Lump Sum MGA.

The legal framework includes:Decision C(2025)7674 and Annex (Legal basis for the call), Decision on lump sums for the Innovation Fund, INNOVFUND Legal Framework, INNOVFUND Regulation 2019/856, ETS Directive 2003/87, and EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509.

Additional documents include:Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment, EU Grants AGA Annotated Model Grant Agreement, Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions, and Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.

In summary, this Innovation Fund call focuses on supporting projects that contribute to net-zero technologies and general decarbonization. It provides substantial funding through lump sum grants and offers various tools and support services to assist applicants in preparing and submitting their proposals. The call targets a range of projects from medium to large scale, as well as pilot projects, and emphasizes the importance of GHG emission avoidance and cost-effectiveness. The legal and financial framework is clearly defined, and applicants are encouraged to utilize the available resources and helpdesks for guidance.

Eligible Applicant Types:The document does not explicitly list eligible applicant types. However, given that it is part of the Innovation Fund and mentions legal entity validation, it can be inferred that eligible applicants could include a range of entities such as companies (including SMEs and large enterprises), research organizations, and other types of organizations capable of undertaking innovation projects. The specific types of eligible applicants will be detailed in section 6 of the call document.

Funding Type:The primary financial mechanism is a grant, specifically an INNOVFUND Lump Sum Grant.

Consortium Requirement:The document does not explicitly state whether a single applicant or a consortium is required. This information is likely detailed in the call document, specifically in sections 5 and 6.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility):The document refers to the Innovation Fund and EU regulations, suggesting that the geographic eligibility likely includes EU member states. Section 6 of the call document will provide specific details on eligible countries.

Target Sector:The program targets Net Zero Technologies, general decarbonisation, and clean tech manufacturing. This includes projects related to renewable electricity and heating, energy storage, energy-intensive industries, and mobility.

Mentioned Countries:No specific countries are mentioned, but the program is an EU initiative, so EU member states are implicitly included.

Project Stage:The call includes topics such as "PILOTS", suggesting that projects at the demonstration or pilot stage are eligible. The inclusion of requirements for a feasibility study and business plan suggests that projects in the development and validation stages are also relevant.

Funding Amount:The total budget for the call is €2,900,000,000. The distribution of this budget across different topics (GENERAL-MSP, GENERAL-LSP, CLEAN-TECH-MANUFACTURING, GENERAL-SSP, PILOTS) suggests that the funding amount per project will vary.

Application Type:The application type is an open call, with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support:Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of lump sum grants.

Application Stages:The application process is single-stage.

Success Rates:The document does not provide information on success rates.

Co-funding Requirement:The document does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement.

Summary:

This is a call for proposals under the Innovation Fund 2025 Net Zero Technologies (INNOVFUND-2025-NZT), offering lump sum grants for projects contributing to net-zero emissions and general decarbonisation. The call is structured around several topics, including general decarbonisation for medium-scale projects (GENERAL-MSP), large-scale projects (GENERAL-LSP) and small-scale projects (GENERAL-SSP), clean tech manufacturing, and pilot projects. The total budget is €2.9 billion. The call aims to support projects in areas such as renewable electricity and heating, energy storage, energy-intensive industries, and mobility. The application process is a single-stage submission, with a deadline of April 23, 2026. Applicants must submit their proposals electronically through the EU 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 consult the InnovFund helpdesk and IT Helpdesk for support during the application process. The legal basis for this call is Decision C(2025)7674 and Annex, along with other relevant EU regulations and directives.