Horizon Europe: EUR 4.5m for geothermal assessment

The European Commission accepts proposals for topic HORIZON-CL5-2026-11-D3-06, Resource assessment for deep sedimentary and basement reservoirs, until 1 December 2026. The topic budget is EUR 18 million, the indicative EU contribution runs around EUR 4.5 million per project, and the Commission plans to support up to 4 projects.

Ukraine is associated to Horizon Europe, so Ukrainian research institutions and companies apply on the same terms as European ones and can coordinate a consortium.

What follows covers the scope of the topic, the participant profile, the consortium requirements and the submission procedure.

What the topic funds

The topic addresses the geothermal potential of deep sedimentary and basement reservoirs at depths between 2000 and 6000 metres. That means exploration methods, characterisation of rock formations, and lower geological risk for deep geothermal projects.

These reservoirs carry low natural permeability, high drilling costs and scarce data, because hydrocarbon exploration usually passes them by. Projects are expected to deliver equipment, methods and conceptual models that work below conventional depths, together with an assessment of environmental and social effects.

The action type here is RIA, Research and Innovation Action. For the proposal budget that means a funding rate of 100 per cent for every participant, commercial companies included.

Who can apply

The standard Horizon Europe configuration requires a consortium of at least three independent legal entities from three different Member States or associated countries. For Ukraine that means full participation, coordinator role included.

The natural participant profile here is clear: geological and geophysical institutes, universities with relevant departments, companies in subsurface exploration and geothermal energy, and well operators.

Conditions and requirements

Four grants across the whole of Europe is a narrow bottleneck, so a proposal has to sit at the top of the ranking, and meeting the conditions alone will not do it. Evaluation follows the three standard Horizon Europe criteria: excellence, impact, and quality and efficiency of the implementation.

Exact cost eligibility conditions appear in the general annexes of the work programme. The topic opened on 4 August 2026, and the procedure is single stage.

A practical note. The same call, HORIZON-CL5-2026-11, opens four further topics: renewable fuels, solid biofuel, photovoltaics, and data sharing to train artificial intelligence models in the energy sector. The overall call budget reaches EUR 131.5 million, of which the geothermal topic takes 18 million. Before you put two months into this proposal, compare the number of planned grants across the neighbouring topics, because your institution profile may fit where competition runs lower.

Where to start

• Open the topic page on the portal and download the call text with the general annexes. The expected outcomes recorded there are what an evaluator will check your proposal against.
• Check whether your institution holds a nine-digit PIC code in the Participant Register. Without it a consortium cannot enter you into the proposal, and registration takes time.
• Decide your role before you look for partners. Coordination brings administrative load, so for a first proposal the role of participant with one clear work package gives better odds.
• Write to partners through the Cluster 5 national contact point. Roughly two and a half months remain until 1 December, which is a tight schedule for a consortium spanning three countries.

How to apply

Submission runs through the Electronic Submission System on the Funding and Tenders Portal. Paper submissions do not work.

Before submission every consortium participant needs registration in the Participant Register and a nine-digit PIC code.

Free advice on the topic comes from the national contact point for Cluster 5, and the list of NCPs is published openly. Topic page: Funding and Tenders Portal.