EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities for Call HORIZON-CL5-2026-02-D3-07

1. Single Market Access

• Immediate entry into a market of 450 + million energy consumers under a harmonised electricity market design (Clean Energy Package, REMIT), allowing rapid commercial roll-out of reliable wind O&M solutions without 27 different certification paths.

• Pan-European supply-chain reach: projects can pilot new components (e.g. smart sensors, autonomous inspection drones) in multiple climate zones (Baltic, Atlantic, Mediterranean) and demonstrate bankability to utilities active across borders (Ørsted, Iberdrola, RWE, Vattenfall, etc.).

2. Cross-Border Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange

• Consortium size is unrestricted; typical RIA funding rate (100 %) allows assembling OEMs, TSOs, maritime robotics SMEs, and RTOs from several Member States plus Associated Countries (NO, TR, CH*).

• Access joint testing assets (e.g. DTU’s Large-Scale Facility, Fraunhofer IWES Dynamic Nacelle Test Rig, ORE Catapult’s 7 MW turbine) enabling statistically significant validation that no single Member State could afford alone.

• Fast-track mobility of researchers via the Researcher Mobility Rule and use of European Research Infrastructures (ERICs) supported by ESFRI.

3. Alignment with EU Flagship Policies

• European Green Deal & REPowerEU: accelerating renewables deployment while lowering LCOE by 10–15 % through reduced OPEX.

• Digital Europe Programme synergies: interoperable data spaces for wind (Gaia-X energy vertical) comply with the Data Act and Cyber-Resilience Act, boosting trust and data sharing.

• Strategic Autonomy agenda: developing European-made components (floating dynamic cables, Li-ion-free power electronics, AI edge devices) reduces dependency on third-country supply chains.

4. Regulatory Harmonisation Benefits

• Use of EU-level standards (IEC/EN 61400 family, upcoming CENELEC standards on autonomous robotics) eliminates need for 27 national certifications.

• Common State-Aid rules (CEEAG) facilitate parallel deployment funding from national Recovery & Resilience Plans (RRF).

• Cross-border pilot wind farms can exploit TEN-E priority corridors, easing permitting and grid connection.

5. Access to Europe’s Innovation Ecosystem

• Integration with Horizon Europe Partnerships: Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP) and Made-in-Europe (robotics) provide additional testbeds and Living Labs.

• Interface with EIT InnoEnergy’s PowerUp! accelerator and Ocean DEMO facilities for technology scale-up.

• Leverage 3 000+ SMEs in the European Wind Cluster network and 250+ Digital Innovation Hubs specialising in AI/IoT for energy.

6. Funding Synergies & Blending Options

• Complementary use of CEF-Energy for offshore grid reinforcement; InnovFin Energy Demo for first-of-a-kind demo guarantees.

• European Investment Bank’s InvestEU “Sustainable Infrastructure” window can finance commercial deployment once RIA proves TRL 6-7.

• National co-funding via Innovation Fund (large projects) for carbon-reduction impact; LIFE programme for biodiversity-friendly O&M practices.

7. Scale & Impact Potential

• EU has 255 GW installed wind; expected 510 GW by 2030. Even 1 % OPEX reduction translates into €400 m annual savings.

• Standardised predictive-maintenance software can be integrated in ENTSO-E digital twin, amplifying impact across 42 TSOs.

• Replicability to emerging markets (LatAm, APAC) strengthens Europe’s export position; projects can leverage EU Global Gateway to bundle technology with sustainable investment packages.

8. Strategic Value of EU-Level Operation

• Critical mass: pooled datasets from 30 000 + turbines enable high-accuracy failure prediction models not attainable at national scale.

• Political legitimacy: Results feed into EU taxonomy criteria for “environmentally sustainable economic activities,” influencing green-finance flows.

• Talent pipeline: EU doctoral networks and Erasmus Mundus programmes ensure steady flow of specialists trained on project outcomes.

9. Actionable Tips for Applicants

• Build a consortium that covers at least 10 Member/Associated States to maximise geographic representativeness and evaluation score on ‘excellence of the consortium’.

• Map each work package to a relevant EU policy deliverable (e.g. WP2 outputs feed into CENELEC TC88 standard drafts; WP4 supplies datasets to the European Common Data Space for Energy).

• Reserve ≥5 % budget for FAIR data stewardship, using EU Cloud Federation services to meet open-science obligations.

• Plan post-project scale-up with an InvestEU-ready business case by M36, showcasing EU added value in cost-benefit analysis.

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*Eligibility subject to association status at call launch.