Advancements in Direct Air Capture
Horizon Europe · Grant topic
Summary
A Polish company can use this call for R&D.
Funds companies and research organisations scaling direct air capture technologies to pilot demonstration, improving costs, materials, energy efficiency and manufacturability.
- Who can apply
- Companies can lead: SME, large company, startup, research org, university.
- Amount
- €8M per projectTotal budget €16,000,000
- Deadline
- 31 Mar 2027 02:00 CESTin 158 days
- Status
- Forthcomingopens 3 Dec 2026
Machine-classified from the call text; check eligibility at the source.
Description
Expected Outcome:
Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcome:
• Accelerating the commercial availability of Direct Air Capture technologies.
Scope:
Projects are expected to aim at scaling up existing technical solutions to at least the level of pilot demonstration in relevant environments (TRL 7 or higher).
Projects are expected to demonstrate:
• Improving the cost efficiency of the capture and regeneration process, including Balance of Plant;
• Improving material performance and process designs (e.g. capture/desorption capacity and kinetics, durability, long-term stability in air);
• Potential for manufacturing and scale-up (recycling and reuse of materials);
• Flexible operation under intermittent or surplus renewable energy supply.
Depending on the technology, other important issues to address are:
• Reducing energy use for sorbent/solvent regeneration;
• Alternative materials for - and approaches to - CO2 separation;
• Development and demonstration of materials in particular for DAC systems operating in cold temperatures or under humid conditions, or in areas with severe air pollution;
• Accuracy of simulated predictions compared to validation experiments;
• New designs for efficient, high-flux air contactors, optimised for maximum air contact.
Projects must develop a comprehensive life cycle assessment to evaluate the environmental implications of the entire DAC system, from material extraction and use, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions through to end-of-life.
The use of the European Research Infrastructure for CO2 Capture, Utilisation, Transport and Storage ECCSEL is encouraged but not mandatory.
International cooperation with participating countries of the Mission Innovation Carbon Dioxide Removal Mission[1] is encouraged.
Technology Readiness Level - Technology readiness level expected from completed projects
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 7 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL.
[1] Carbon Dioxide Removal – Mission Innovation (mission-innovation.net)
Who can apply, in detail
- Applicant types
- SME, Large company, Startup, 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)
- 7+
- Topics
- Direct air capture
- Carbon separation materials
- Pilot demonstration
- Renewable energy integration
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 restriction
- Entities established in an otherwise eligible country but directly or indirectly controlled by China or by a legal entity established in China are not eligible to participate in this action.
Topic-specific General Annex B critical-technology restriction; it concerns participation, not merely eligibility for Union funding.
- Consortium required
- Yes
Unless the specific topic conditions provide otherwise, the consortium must include at least three legal entities as beneficiaries, independent from one another and each established in a different country: at least one independent legal entity in an EU Member State and at least two other independent legal entities each in different EU Member States or Associated Countries. Affiliated entities do not count toward any minimum consortium-composition criterion. This is the General Annex B default for this IA topic.
- Other condition
- The Work Programme classifies this topic as a Innovation Action.
- Other condition
- 31 March 2027 at 17:00 Brussels local time, as stated for this call in the Work Programme overview.
- Other condition
- When a project uses satellite-based Earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data or services, beneficiaries must use Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS; other data and services may also be used.
- Other condition
- The topic specifies that eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum under the Horizon Europe lump-sum authorising decision. The lump sum is a project/action grant form, not an employee pay entitlement.
- Other condition
- The call overview indicates around 2 project(s) expected to be funded for this topic. This is a planning estimate, not a guaranteed award count or consortium-size rule.
This expected project count is an indicative planning estimate, not a guaranteed number of awards or a consortium-size rule.
- Other condition
- Projects must develop a comprehensive life-cycle assessment covering the entire DAC system from material extraction and use, energy use and greenhouse-gas emissions through end-of-life.
- Other condition
- scale existing direct-air-capture solutions to pilot demonstration in relevant environments at TRL 7 or higher
- Other condition
- projects must develop a comprehensive lifecycle assessment of the whole DAC system
- Technology readiness level at end, minimum
- 7 TRL
The topic expects projects to aim at at least pilot demonstration in relevant environments at TRL 7 or higher; no maximum TRL is stated.
Amounts and costs
- Indicative budget
- €16,000,000
Topic budget as stated in the portal's budget table. Lump-sum and per-project limits are in the call conditions.
- Funding intensity, maximumnon-profit legal entity beneficiaries
- 100 percent of eligible costs per beneficiary
General Annex G allows this entity-category maximum for Innovation Actions; it is not a grant guarantee. For lump-sum grants the rate is already applied in the amount methodology.
- Funding intensity, maximumbeneficiaries other than non-profit legal entities
- 70 percent of eligible costs per beneficiary
General Annex G maximum for Innovation action. For lump-sum/unit grants, funding rate is applied through the amount-setting methodology rather than shown as a separate rate in the grant agreement.
- Expected contribution per project
- €8,000,000
Commission estimate of EU contribution per project for this exact topic, taken from the full own-topic overview row and the column heading identifying amounts in EUR millions. The Work Programme expressly says this estimate does not preclude proposals requesting different amounts; it is not a fixed ceiling, floor, guarantee, or the topic allocation.
- Topic allocation
- €16,000,000
Indicative budget allocated to this individual topic; not a per-project grant cap.
Personnel and services
Other role
Staff cost the grant can fund
For this topic’s specified lump-sum form, personnel is an estimate input to the detailed project budget; it is not separately reimbursed as actual payroll. The estimate must comply with normal practices, be reasonable and necessary for the action, and use costs eligible under the programme. No positions, headcount, salary amounts or wage entitlement are stated.
Source documents
Call facts
- Opens
- 3 Dec 2026
- Deadline model
- Single-stage
- Programme
- Horizon Europe · 2021 - 2027
- Call
- HORIZON-CL5-2027-02 · BATTERIES and 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.