Cross-regional network and market model for optimisation of long duration storage
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See in 5 min if you're eligible for Cross-regional network and market model for optimisation of long duration storage offering max €69.0M funding💰 Funding Details
Funding Description – HORIZON-CL5-2025-02-D3-21
What the Grant Funds
The action supports Innovation Activities (IA) that develop, validate and demonstrate advanced spatial–temporal models and market tools for optimising >12 h Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES) across at least two adjacent EU regions (NUTS 2/3). Funded projects must:
* Build or extend digital twins of the selected regional energy systems.
* Design scenario-based optimisation models for LDES siting, sizing, and operation in high-RES grids.
* Perform techno-economic, environmental and regulatory analyses (incl. revenue-stacking, marginal abatement cost curves, nodal pricing).
* Produce policy, regulatory and market recommendations for large-scale LDES roll-out and replication across Europe.
* Validate the solution under real-life operating conditions (Technology Readiness ~TRL 6-8 by project end).
Eligible Applicants
* Minimum consortium: 3 independent legal entities from 3 different EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries, per HE General Annex B.
* Mandatory inclusion of:
* At least one Transmission/Distribution System Operator covering each pilot region.
* LDES technology providers (e.g. thermal, chemical, electrochemical, mechanical).
* Modelling/Digital-twin experts, energy market stakeholders, and actors able to provide historical data sets.
* Financial/market stakeholders (e.g. investors, aggregators) to address bankability.
* Third-country partners may participate if they secure own funding or are eligible under Annex B.
* Organisations subject to EU network-security restrictions must comply with the specific provisions in the work programme.
Funding Model & Budget
* Maximum EU contribution per project: EUR 69 million (lump-sum grant).
* Lump-sum covers 100 % of eligible costs; payments are linked to the achievement of predefined work-package-level deliverables/milestones agreed during Grant Agreement Preparation (GAP).
* Expected EU portfolio: 1-2 large-scale projects; consortia should justify the requested budget via detailed cost-breakdown during GAP even though no cost reporting is required later.
* Co-funding/leveraging of private investment is encouraged to increase impact but not obligatory.
Key Dates & Process
* Call opens: 06 May 2025
* Single-stage deadline: 02 September 2025 – 17:00 CET
* Evaluation results: ~5 months post-deadline
* Grant signature & project start: Q2 2026 (indicative)
Other Key Conditions
* Duration: 36-60 months recommended.
* GA type: HORIZON-AG-LS (Lump-Sum MGA).
* IP & Data: Preference for open-source licensing, FAIR data, and free-of-charge replication toolkits.
* Ethics & security: cyber-security‐by-design, protection of commercially sensitive grid data.
* Synergies: encouraged with CEF-Energy, Digital Europe, ERA-Net EnerDigit, national recovery plans.
📊 At a Glance
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🇪🇺 Strategic Advantages
EU-Wide Advantages & Strategic Opportunities for "Cross-regional network and market model for optimisation of long duration storage" (HORIZON-CL5-2025-02-D3-21)
1. Single Market Access: 450+ Million Consumers, 27 Regulatory Zones
• Pan-European roll-out of LDES business models – once validated in two adjacent NUTS 2/3 regions, solutions can be replicated across all EU Member States without customs or trade barriers.
• Revenue stacking at EU scale – access to day-ahead, intraday and balancing markets in multiple bidding zones increases utilisation rates (>70 %) and lowers levelised cost of storage (LCOS) by up to 20 % compared with single-country deployment.
• Uniform rules for Guarantees of Origin & carbon accounting allow LDES operators to monetise decarbonisation benefits across borders.
2. Cross-Border Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange
• Mandatory multi-regional consortium leverages complementary expertise (TSOs, DSOs, aggregators, OEMs, fintech, academia) and speeds up TRL 6→8 progression by sharing SCADA data, digital-twin assets and regulatory insights.
• Living labs along real interconnectors (e.g. Iberian, Nordic-Baltic, Alpine corridors) enable stress-testing of models under diverse RES mixes (hydro, wind, PV) and climatic conditions.
• Peer-to-peer learning with EU Joint Research Centre (JRC) and ENTSO-E/ENTSO-G task forces reduces modelling duplication and fosters standardised open-source code.
3. Alignment with Flagship EU Policies
• European Green Deal: supports 55 % GHG reduction and REPowerEU targets by integrating >12 h LDES for seasonal balancing.
• Fit-for-55 / Clean Energy Package: contributes to the Electricity Market Design revision on flexibility and locational marginal pricing.
• Digital Europe & Destination Earth: digital-twin requirement dovetails with EU ambition for climate-neutral digital twins of the entire energy system.
• Industrial Strategy & Net-Zero Industry Act: strengthens EU value chains for LDES technologies (thermal, electro-chemical, gravitational, PtX) considered strategic net-zero assets.
4. Regulatory Harmonisation Benefits
• Network Code on Demand Response & Storage (expected 2025) provides common rules for connection, metering and market access—reducing legal costs and time-to-market.
• Upcoming EU Battery & Storage Strategy will harmonise safety and sustainability requirements, facilitating trans-EU certification.
• Ability to test nodal / locational pricing pilots under Article 20 of Electricity Regulation across borders, informing ACER & national regulators.
5. Access to Europe’s Innovation Ecosystem
• Integration with European Technology Platforms (ETIPs SNET, Batteries Europe, Renewable Heating & Cooling) enriches scientific excellence and dissemination channels.
• 5 000+ Horizon Europe beneficiaries and 300+ Test & Demonstration facilities accessible for component validation, cyber-security hardening and interoperability testing.
• Collaboration with EERA Joint Programme on Energy Storage accelerates standardisation of KPIs (round-trip efficiency, cycle life, LCOS).
6. Funding Synergies & Blended Finance
• Innovation Fund – Large Scale: CAPEX/OPEX support for first-of-a-kind >12 h storage plants demonstrated in the Horizon project.
• CEF Energy – Cross-border Renewable Projects (CB RES): financing of transmission upgrades identified by the new optimisation model.
• InvestEU & EIB green loans: de-risk follow-up commercial deployment via advisory hub & guarantee window.
• ERDF / Just Transition Fund: complements demonstration activities in coal-dependent regions shifting to storage-led flexibility.
7. Scale, Impact & Replicability
• Model designed for system-wide optimisation allows TSOs/DSOs to cut grid reinforcement CAPEX by 15–25 % EU-wide, freeing €5–10 bn by 2030.
• CO₂ abatement potential up to 35 Mt/year through avoided curtailment and fossil peaker displacement when scaled across 27 Member States.
• Open-source toolchain with permissive license (e.g. Apache 2.0) facilitates uptake by SMEs and public authorities, boosting EU innovation diffusion.
8. Long-Term Strategic Value for Consortia
• First-mover regulatory influence: provide evidence for upcoming legislative files (TEN-E, RED III delegated acts on storage) and shape EU taxonomy criteria for LDES.
• Commercial traction: early access to pan-European pipeline of >30 GW announced LDES projects positions partners for EPC, O&M and digital services contracts.
• International visibility: EU-backed results ease entry into Energy Community Contracting Parties and global markets aligned with EU standards (e.g. Latin America, Africa via Global Gateway).
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Actionable Next Steps
1. Identify two neighbouring regions with contrasting RES profiles and engaged TSOs (e.g. DK-SE or PT-ES) for high-impact pilots.
2. Map complementarities with ongoing Horizon projects (e.g. FLOW, PRISMA, INTERSTORE) to avoid duplication and share datasets.
3. Pre-align with national regulatory authorities & ACER sandbox frameworks to authorise nodal pricing trials.
4. Engage EIB Advisory early (Q4 2024) to structure post-grant financing instruments.
5. Secure letters of intent from industrial off-takers (chemicals, steel, data centres) to validate cross-sector revenue stacking.
🏷️ Keywords
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