Operational digital platforms – Works

The EU Funding and Tenders Portal announces a call for proposals under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital Programme, specifically addressing Operational Digital Platforms (ODPs) to enhance cross-border digital infrastructures. This opportunity, identified as CEF-DIG-2025-PLATFORMS-WORKS, seeks to support the deployment of technologies for energy and mobility sectors by retrofitting existing infrastructures, aligning with EU environmental targets and improving industry competitiveness.

The call will open on June 26, 2025, and close on October 16, 2025. A total budget of €20 million is allocated for this topic, with individual project funding expected to be several million euros. Projects are required to demonstrate the implementation of fully functional ODPs to achieve quantifiable results in greenhouse gas emission reductions and energy savings.

Eligible applicants include consortia involving public and private entities from EU Member States, EEA countries, and potentially EU candidate countries. The emphasis is on collaboration among diverse stakeholders such as operators, utilities, authorities, and vendors. A consortium with a minimum of two applicants from different eligible countries is strongly encouraged.

The applications will be reviewed based on criteria that prioritize projects offering comprehensive functionalities, including real-time consumer monitoring, AI-driven advisory services, integration of controllable energy assets, and support for vehicle-to-grid operations. Projects should address the integration of electric vehicles and renewable energy sources into the grid, enhancing the energy transition and supporting the objectives outlined in the EU’s Digital Decade goals.

The application process is a single-stage submission, requiring a full proposal with necessary documentation, including a detailed budget and project timetable. Co-funding is typically required, with rates between 30% to 50% depending on project type.

In summary, the call seeks innovative proposals for AI-driven digital platforms that modernize energy and transport sectors, promoting sustainability, enhancing grid resilience, and fostering cross-border interoperability within the EU’s technological framework.

The EU Funding and Tenders Portal presents a call for proposals under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital Programme, specifically targeting Operational Digital Platforms (ODPs). The call, titled CEF-DIG-2025-PLATFORMS-WORKS, falls under the CEF-INFRA CEF Infrastructure Projects action type. It aims to deploy cross-border digital infrastructure to accelerate the digitalisation of the energy and mobility sectors.

The main objective is to support EU environmental and energy targets, improve EU industry competitiveness, and address the ongoing energy crisis by providing technologies and connectivity for a cyber-secure Internet of Energy and an optimized transport system. The focus is on retrofitting existing energy and transport infrastructures with the necessary cross-border digital infrastructure.

The call anticipates a single-stage submission process. The planned opening date is 26 June 2025, and the deadline for submissions is 16 October 2025, at 17:00 Brussels time. The total budget allocated for this topic in 2025 is EUR 20,000,000.

Expected outcomes include a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, improved energy and environmental performance of infrastructures, and enhanced interoperability and standardisation within the energy and mobility sectors. Key performance indicators (KPIs) will measure the number of connected operators, interconnected energy/transport systems, energy saved, GHG emission decrease, and integration with European data, computing, and connectivity infrastructure.

Funded projects must deliver fully functional, cross-border ODPs, quantifiable results in CO2 reduction and energy savings, open and standards-based architectures, strengthened cross-sector and cross-border collaboration, new business models for distributed energy resources and smart mobility, and improved consumer empowerment and data transparency.

The scope includes deploying cross-border digital infrastructure for an AI-Driven Operational Digital Platform (ODP) for Electricity Consumers and the integration of electric vehicles (EV), electric trucks (ET), and renewable energy sources (RES) into the grid. The platform should also support data centres in shifting workloads to greener energy sources and participating in grid services.

Mandatory functionalities of the platform are: real-time monitoring and feedback for consumers, AI-based advisory services, participation in virtual energy communities (VECs), integration of controllable assets for demand response, AI-powered charging optimisation, dynamic pricing and congestion signals, smart routing tools for logistics managers, integration of renewable generation into vehicle charging plans, and support for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) operations. Optional functionalities include participation of data centres in flexibility markets and data centres workload migration tools.

The evaluation process will prioritize proposals offering a higher number of functionalities, as they will be considered as having a higher impact. The platform should follow a layered digital architecture and adhere to the BEGONIA project’s guidelines for ODP architecture, governance, and implementation.

The call document outlines admissibility conditions, proposal page limits, eligible countries, other eligibility conditions, financial and operational capacity requirements, submission and evaluation processes, award criteria, scoring and thresholds, the indicative timeline, and the legal and financial setup of the grants.

Applicants must submit proposals using the forms provided within the Submission System, including the Application Form (Parts A and B), a detailed budget table per Work Package, a timetable (Gantt Chart), a letter of support/MS agreement, the CEF Model Grant Agreement, an ownership control declaration/MS Guarantees, and a security compliance declaration. Additional documents include guidance on participation in EU restricted calls, the Connecting Europe Facility-Digital Work Programme (2024-2027), CEF Regulation 2021/1153, and EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509.

LEARs, Account Administrators, and self-registrants can publish partner requests on the Portal. The submission system is planned to open on 26 June 2025.

For help, applicants can contact HADEA CEF DIGITAL CALLS or consult the Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, the IT Helpdesk, and the Online Manual.

In summary, this call seeks to fund projects that will create and deploy AI-driven digital platforms to modernize the energy and transport sectors across Europe. These platforms should facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources, optimize energy consumption, and promote sustainable mobility through advanced digital infrastructure and technologies. The focus is on cross-border solutions that can be replicated across Member States, contributing to the EU's goals of technological sovereignty, reduced emissions, and a more resilient energy and transport system.

Eligible Applicant Types: The call document specifies eligibility conditions in section 6, but the document itself does not explicitly list applicant types. However, given the nature of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital programme and the focus on deploying cross-border digital infrastructure, eligible applicants are likely to include a mix of public and private entities, such as telecom operators, energy companies, transport authorities, research institutions, SMEs, and potentially large enterprises, public-private partnerships, and other organizations involved in the energy, transport, and ICT sectors.

Funding Type: The funding type is a CEF Action Grant Budget-Based [CEF-AG], which falls under the CEF Infrastructure Projects (CEF-INFRA). This indicates a grant mechanism where funding is allocated based on a detailed budget submitted by the applicant.

Consortium Requirement: The call aims to deploy cross-border digital infrastructure, which suggests that a consortium of multiple applicants is highly encouraged, if not required. The emphasis on cross-border collaboration and interoperability implies that projects will likely need to involve partners from different countries and sectors.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The eligible countries are described in section 6 of the call document. Given that this is a CEF Digital call, it is highly likely that the geographic eligibility includes EU Member States, and potentially EEA countries and EU candidate countries.

Target Sector: The program targets the energy, mobility, transport, and ICT sectors. Specifically, it focuses on the digitalisation of the energy and mobility sectors, the integration of electric vehicles and renewable energy sources into the grid, and the deployment of AI-driven Operational Digital Platforms (ODPs). It also touches upon data centers and their role in grid services.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned in the provided text, but the focus on cross-border digital infrastructure and the reference to EU environmental and energy targets suggest that the call is primarily targeted at entities within the European Union.

Project Stage: The expected maturity of the project is deployment and implementation. The call focuses on deploying fully functional, cross-border ODPs and retro-fitting existing infrastructure, indicating that the projects should be at the demonstration or commercialization stage.

Funding Amount: The budget for the topic CEF-DIG-2025-PLATFORMS-WORKS is EUR 20,000,000. This amount is for the entire topic, and the indicative number of grants is not specified, so the funding amount per project is variable but likely to be in the range of several million euros.

Application Type: The deadline model is single-stage, meaning that applicants submit a full proposal in one go. The call is an open call, as indicated by the general information and the availability of call documents.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a grant to support the deployment of digital infrastructure and the implementation of Operational Digital Platforms.

Application Stages: The application process is single-stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not specified in the provided text.

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

Summary:

This opportunity is a call for proposals under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital programme, specifically targeting the deployment of cross-border digital infrastructure to accelerate the digitalisation of the energy and mobility sectors. The call, titled "Operational digital platforms – Works" with topic identifier CEF-DIG-2025-PLATFORMS-WORKS, aims to support EU environmental and energy targets, improve the competitiveness of EU industry, and address the ongoing energy crisis. The primary objective is to "retro-fit" existing energy and transport infrastructures with the required cross-border digital infrastructure through the deployment of AI-Driven Operational Digital Platforms (ODPs).

The call encourages projects that integrate electric vehicles, electric trucks, and renewable energy sources into the grid, and that enable data centers to participate in grid services. The proposed platforms should include functionalities such as real-time monitoring and feedback for consumers, AI-based advisory services, participation in virtual energy communities, integration of controllable assets, AI-powered charging optimisation, dynamic pricing, smart routing tools, and support for vehicle-to-grid operations.

The total budget for this topic is EUR 20,000,000, and the call follows a single-stage submission process with a planned opening date of 26 June 2025 and a deadline of 16 October 2025. Eligible applicants are expected to form consortia and should consult the call document for detailed eligibility conditions and application guidelines. The projects should contribute to the Digital Decade goals, such as the deployment of 10,000 climate-neutral highly secure edge nodes, and should follow the BEGONIA project’s guidelines related to the architecture, governance, and implementation of ODPs. The evaluation of proposals will prioritise those offering a higher number of functionalities and demonstrating a greater impact on CO₂ reduction, energy savings, and grid flexibility.