Advanced TSO control rooms to enhance grid observability, stability and resilience
Horizon Europe · Grant topic
Summary
A Polish company can use this call for R&D.
Funds companies, grid operators and research organisations designing and testing innovative transmission control room technologies to improve observability, stability and resilience.
- Who can apply
- Companies can lead: SME, large company, research org, university.
- Amount
- €9.5M per projectTotal budget €28,500,000
- Deadline
- 01 Dec 2027 01:00 CETin 403 days
- Status
- Forthcomingopens 4 Aug 2027
Machine-classified from the call text; check eligibility at the source.
Description
Expected Outcome:
Project results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes:
• Enhanced reliability, resilience, and efficiency of electricity transmission grids. Grid congestion is managed efficiently;
• Enhanced observability of grids and improved forecasting of supply, demand, grid capacity availability, and flexibility;
• Transmission system operators (TSO) leverage modern digital solutions and employ improved systems to effectively manage their grids and improve interoperability with other TSOs;
• Vendor-agnostic reference architectures, solutions and tools are developed to help advancing the TSO control room design and operation.
Scope:
Projects are expected to address all the following items:
• Design and test innovative solutions, technologies and processes for advancing the way the TSO control rooms are designed and operated, increasing observability and entailing enhanced support for the operators, providing more automation and enhanced support for decision, faster response times and less room for error. The solutions are expected to incorporate both hardware and software aspects;
• Analyse and include, as far as possible, solutions for Wide Area Monitoring Systems (WAMS) to extend the real-time monitoring and control capabilities over large areas, while coping with the decentralisation and increased complexity of the system;
• The novel solutions are expected to help the operators to manage better grid congestion and incorporate more renewables while reducing curtailment. The solutions will facilitate data-driven grid operations, capitalising on real-time analytics and data from smart assets. The solutions may include preparation, recovery and/or restoration from incidents (including extreme weather events);
• Help the grid operators to update their operational tools in light of the deep transformation of the grids, notably the distributed nature of generation. May include the option to de-centralise the control for increasing the resilience of decision-making;
• Advance forecasting solutions for energy supply, demand and flexibility made available to the system operator, need for ancillary services, as well as for grid hosting capacity; provide advanced analytics and visualisations;
• Develop interoperability between the control rooms of different TSOs (and using different vendor solutions) to secure seamless data exchanges and coordination. Develop interoperability between the TSO control rooms and other entities connected to the transmission grids, including the adjacent DSOs.
• Leverage modern solutions, notably digital twins and artificial intelligence. Use security-by-design and advanced protection mechanisms against cyber threats. Use and/or develop, to the greatest extent possible, open-source software solutions and or software modules;
• Develop a manual and propose best practices on this matter to be used by other TSOs (including operation instructions). Identify remaining gaps and further needs for research and development.
The demonstration, test and validation of the activities should be carried out in at least two pilots in different EU Member States or Associated Countries.
Projects are expected to include at least two electricity Transmission System Operators (TSOs) and at least two universities and/or research organisations.
Additionally, collaboration is encouraged with the following entities and projects:
• at least one supplier of technology and solutions for TSO control rooms;
• at least two distribution system operators, which manage grids that are connected to the grids operated by any of the TSOs that are partners in the project;
• (at least) one project funded under the separate call ‘Advanced Distribution Management Systems (ADSM) for more efficient and flexible distribution grids’ with the view to strengthen TSO-DSO coordination and support interoperable solutions. To that end, the project proposals are expected to describe a credible mechanism to do so.
This collaboration (minimum number of entities) is sought per project in total and does not necessarily apply per each pilot in particular.
Selected projects are expected to contribute to the BRIDGE initiative[1] and actively participate in its activities.
Technology Readiness Level - Technology readiness level expected from completed projects
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 6-8 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL.
[1] https://bridge-smart-grid-storage-systems-digital-projects.ec.europa.eu/
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
- —
- Region
- Any
- Consortium
- Unclear
- Readiness level (TRL)
- —
- Topics
- Transmission control rooms
- Grid observability
- Grid resilience
- Operator decision support
- Interoperable grid architectures
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.
- Consortium required
- Yes
Unless the exact topic-specific conditions provide otherwise, this action requires three independent beneficiary legal entities established in three different countries: at least one in an EU Member State and at least two others in different EU Member States or Associated Countries. Affiliated entities do not count toward the minimum. Topic-specific required organisation types, applicant restrictions, and exceptions recorded elsewhere in this packet remain applicable; this baseline does not replace them.
- Consortium requiredConsortium across the whole project, not each pilot
- Yes
At least two TSOs and at least two universities and/or research organisations are expected in the consortium. Technology supplier, DSOs and cross-project cooperation are encouraged, not mandatory; minimum collaborator counts are project-wide.
- Other condition
- The Work Programme specifies Innovation Action as the action type for this topic.
- Other condition
- Selected projects are expected to contribute to the BRIDGE initiative and actively participate in its activities.
- Other condition
- Entities established in eligible countries but directly/indirectly controlled by China (or China-established legal entities) cannot participate where the topic invokes the critical-technology restriction.
- Other condition
- The topic encourages a control-room technology supplier, at least two connected DSOs, and collaboration with at least one project from the separate D3-26 call; it expects a credible mechanism for TSO–DSO/interoperability coordination.
These are explicitly encouraged collaboration partners; they are not part of the minimum required consortium composition.
- Other condition
- Improve transmission-grid reliability, resilience and efficiency; observability and forecasting; modern digital TSO management/interoperability; and vendor-agnostic control-room solutions.
- Other condition
- Technology Activities are expected to achieve TRL 6-8 by the end of the project – see Readiness Level General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL.
- Other condition
- Work Programme call table lists an indicative EU contribution of around EUR 9,500,000 per project and an indicative 3 project(s) expected to be funded. The amount and count are indicative, not guarantees or hard recipient caps.
- Other condition
- Demonstration, testing and validation should occur in at least two pilots located in different EU Member States or Associated Countries.
- Other condition
- Where satellite data/services are used, beneficiaries must use Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS; other services may also be used.
- Other condition
- All listed scope items apply: advance TSO control-room design/operation and operator support; consider WAMS; manage congestion/renewables and incidents; update operational tools; improve forecasting/analytics; interoperability among TSO control rooms and DSOs; digital twins/AI/cybersecurity/open source; and a manual/best practices. Demonstrate/test/validate in at least two pilots in different EU Member States or Associated Countries.
- Technology readiness level at end, maximumExpected end-of-project target upper endpoint, not a hard maximum
- 8 TRL level
Work Programme wording is “expected to achieve”; activities may start at any TRL. This is an expected target range, not a prohibited higher result.
- Technology readiness level at end, minimumExpected end-of-project target lower endpoint, not a mandatory minimum at project end
- 6 TRL level
Work Programme wording is “expected to achieve”; activities may start at any TRL. The endpoints are not hard grant eligibility thresholds.
Amounts and costs
- Indicative budget
- €28,500,000
Topic budget as stated in the portal's budget table. Lump-sum and per-project limits are in the call conditions.
- Eligible cost limit
- 25 percent flat rate of eligible direct costs, subject to the base exclusions in conditions
Horizon Europe General Annex G describes a 25% indirect-cost flat rate on eligible direct costs, excluding eligible direct subcontracting costs, financial support to third parties, and any unit costs or lump sums that include indirect costs. For HORIZON-AG actual-cost grants this is a cost-calculation rule, not a grant-rate increase. For HORIZON-AG-LS it informs the underlying eligible-cost estimate only; it is not an additional payment on top of the fixed lump sum. The topic indicative allocation and per-project contribution are distinct from this cost rate.
- Funding intensity, maximum
- 70 percent of eligible costs (general Innovation Action maximum for non-profit status not established)
The exact Work Programme labels this topic an Innovation Action. General Annex G sets a 70% maximum for legal entities other than non-profit entities; the separate nonprofit maximum is represented in its own typed fact. This is an action-type maximum, not a guarantee or the topic-level indicative EU contribution; the final rate is fixed in the grant agreement. For the lump-sum topics, the rate is already applied in the lump-sum methodology and is not an extra multiplier.
- Funding intensity, maximum
- 100 percent of eligible costs (up to; nonprofit legal entities only)
Only for a non-profit legal entity, the general Innovation Action maximum may be up to 100%; this is not automatic or a salary entitlement, and final funding parameters are fixed in the grant agreement. For the lump-sum topics, the percentage is embedded in the lump-sum amount methodology and is not an extra multiplier.
- Expected contribution per projectCommission-estimated EU contribution per project for this exact topic
- €9,500,000
The Work Programme says this amount would allow outcomes to be addressed appropriately but expressly does not preclude proposals requesting other amounts. It is not a minimum, maximum or award promise.
- Topic allocationExact Work Programme topic allocation, not per-project funding
- €28,500,000
The call table marks the budget indicative and subject to availability of Union appropriations; it is not a guaranteed grant or per-beneficiary amount.
Personnel and services
Other role
Staff cost the grant can fund
These are eligible personnel-cost categories when the source terms are met; the call does not identify vacancies, salary amounts, project headcount, or hiring decisions. MGA A.2/A.3 requires assignment to the action, employee-like working conditions, result ownership by the beneficiary unless otherwise agreed, and a rate based on actual incurred costs not significantly different from similar employee tasks.
Other role
Staff cost the grant can fund
These are eligible personnel-cost categories when the source terms are met; the call does not identify vacancies, salary amounts, project headcount, or hiring decisions. MGA A.1 covers personnel working for the beneficiary under an employment contract or equivalent appointing act and assigned to the action; salary components follow Article 6.2 A.1.
Other role
Staff cost the grant can fund
These are eligible personnel-cost categories when the source terms are met; the call does not identify vacancies, salary amounts, project headcount, or hiring decisions. Only SME owners not receiving a salary or natural-person beneficiaries not receiving a salary are covered; declared as Annex 2a unit costs, subject to general eligibility conditions.
Source documents
Call facts
- Opens
- 4 Aug 2027
- Deadline model
- Single-stage
- Programme
- Horizon Europe · 2021 - 2027
- Call
- HORIZON-CL5-2027-07 · ENERGY
- Types of action
- HORIZON Innovation Actions
- Source
- ec.europa.eu
- Checked
- 24 Oct 2026
- Portal updated
- 7 Oct 2026
- Review status
- Partial review
- Reviewed
- 23 Oct 2026
This is a summary of the source page, not the official text. Eligibility, conditions and the submission system are at the source.