Resource assessment for deep sedimentary and basement reservoirs
Horizon Europe · Grant topic
Summary
A Polish company can use this call for R&D.
Funds international consortia developing methods, technologies and models to assess deep geothermal resources and reduce exploration and environmental risks.
- Who can apply
- Companies can lead: SME, large company, research org, university.
- Amount
- €18,000,000Indicative budget
- Deadline
- 01 Dec 2026 01:00 CETin 38 days
- Status
- Openopened 4 Aug 2026
Machine-classified from the call text; check eligibility at the source.
Description
Expected Outcome:
Deep sedimentary/basement reservoirs are usually characterized by low permeability, high drilling cost and a scarcity of data, as they are typically ignored by hydrocarbon exploration. Major exploration challenges relate to predicting deep sedimentary and basement reservoir structures and properties to identify suitable locations for reservoir-independent approaches, capable of overcoming the low permeability obstacle, such as Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) or closed-loop geothermal systems.
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
• Increased knowledge base for developers to unlock unexploited geothermal resources, increase drilling success rate, increase geothermal sources performance and reduce the risk of induced seismicity and deploy geothermal energy in a sustainable way in environmental (notably on biodiversity and pollution) and socioeconomic terms.
• Citizens and local communities are engaged and benefit from local, more secure and affordable renewable energy sources.
Scope:
Advanced methods, technologies and conceptual models, for different geological settings, to identify suitable conditions for geothermal resource exploitation, tackling the issue of data scarcity and leveraging the information available. The proposals are expected to contribute to the assessment of environmental and social impacts and to unlock geothermal resources marked by low natural permeability at depths between 2000-6000m.
The scope covers advances beyond the state of the art in equipment, methods and models capable of providing in-depth understanding and predictive power for properties and processes beyond conventional depths. The proposals are expected to take into account the impact of reservoir conditions and parameters (i.e. in-situ stress, temperature, geo-mechanical, chemical properties) on the development and performance of the geothermal resources, covering, when relevant, aspects such as the suitability for different stimulation techniques, well designs and completion technologies, the possibilities for the coproduction of raw materials, wellbore stability.
The proposals are expected to validate the benefit of the proposed solution in the context of state-of-the-art decision and risk analysis methods.
To ensure trust building and communities’ support, partners are expected to practice inclusive societal engagement, which is early, continuous, and sensitive to the technical specificities (e.g. impact on biodiversity, water balance, pollution, land occupation, visual impact, noise as well as geo-mechanical changes (e.g. seismicity) and underground changes (e.g. disturbance of non-targeted aquifers)) that could affect local communities and ecosystems [1].
This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.
Technology Readiness Level - Technology readiness level expected from completed projects
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 4-5 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL.
[1] For an example of a methodology for the assessment of sustainability, circularity and contribution to the EU resilience and technological autonomy of clean energy technology in the R&I pipeline, please see Study on circular approaches for a sustainable and affordable clean energy transition
Who can apply, in detail
- Applicant types
- SME, Large company, Research org, University
- Purpose
- Research and innovation
- R&D relevance
- 3 of 3
- Poland eligible
- Yes
- Country limit
- Consortium must include entities from at least three countries, including at least one EU Member State.
- Region
- Any
- Consortium
- Required
- Readiness level (TRL)
- 4-5
- Topics
- Deep geothermal resources
- Reservoir characterisation
- Enhanced geothermal systems
- Closed-loop geothermal systems
Machine-classified from the call text; check eligibility at the source. 23 Oct 2026
Conditions
Typed facts extracted from the source documents by Scindu's grant-data review. Each value keeps its own conditions. Unknown means unstated, not zero or unlimited.
- Applicant type
- At least three independent beneficiary legal entities established in different countries are required unless topic-specific conditions say otherwise: at least one in an EU Member State and two others in different Member States or Associated Countries.
- Eligible project scope
- Advance methods, technologies and conceptual models to identify deep geothermal resource conditions, including low-permeability resources at depths of 2,000–6,000 m; assess impacts and include inclusive societal engagement and SSH expertise.
- Other condition
- The topic is a Research and Innovation Actions funded through the Horizon lump-sum grant model. The Work Programme explicitly says eligible costs take the form of a lump sum; it does not establish per-person actual-cost reimbursement or salary amounts.
- Other condition
- HORIZON-CL5-2026-11 ENERGY opens 4 August 2026 and closes 1 December 2026 at 17:00 Brussels local time. The Work Programme permits the Director-General to adjust opening/deadline dates within the stated limits.
- Other condition
- The Commission estimates around EUR 4.50 million in EU contribution per project. This is an estimate, not a fixed project ceiling or floor; the Work Programme says different requested amounts are not precluded.
- Other condition
- The ENERGY call overview lists around EUR 4.50 million expected EU contribution per project and an indicative 4 projects expected to be funded for this topic. These are planning estimates, not guaranteed awards.
- Other condition
- Conditional eligibility rule: if the project uses satellite EO/positioning/navigation/timing data or services, beneficiaries must use Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS; additional sources may also be used.
- Other condition
- The topic uses a lump-sum grant. The reviewed work-programme conditions specify no named occupations, degrees, project hire counts, FTE, staff contract lengths, or individual salary rates; no actual-cost salary reimbursement or numeric pay cap is inferred. Staff work, if included in the action, is included in the lump-sum work plan rather than separately established by these topic conditions.
- Technology readiness level at end, maximum
- 5 TRL
Expected range stated by the topic for end-of-action readiness; activities may start at any TRL.
- Technology readiness level at end, minimum
- 4 TRL
Expected range stated by the topic for end-of-action readiness; activities may start at any TRL.
Amounts and costs
- Indicative budget
- €18,000,000
Topic budget as stated in the portal's budget table. Lump-sum and per-project limits are in the call conditions.
- Call allocation
- €132
Overall indicative call budget in the official Work Programme; subject to availability of EU appropriations.
- Eligible cost
- The topic uses a lump-sum grant. Under the applicable Horizon MGA, lump-sum work must be properly implemented and its deliverables/outputs achieved in the action period; this is not an actual-payroll reimbursement rule.
- Topic allocation
- €18,000,000
Indicative topic allocation, not a guaranteed amount to one beneficiary.
Source documents
Call facts
- Opens
- 4 Aug 2026
- Deadline model
- Single-stage
- Programme
- Horizon Europe · 2021 - 2027
- Call
- HORIZON-CL5-2026-11 · ENERGY
- Types of action
- HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
- Source
- ec.europa.eu
- Checked
- 24 Oct 2026
- Portal updated
- 3 Aug 2026
- Review status
- Partial review
- Reviewed
- 22 Oct 2026
This is a summary of the source page, not the official text. Eligibility, conditions and the submission system are at the source.