Innovative approaches for the deployment of Positive Energy Districts
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See in 5 min if you're eligible for Innovative approaches for the deployment of Positive Energy Districts offering max €33.0M funding💰 Funding Details
Funding Description
Grant Snapshot
* Call title: Innovative approaches for the deployment of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs)
* Call identifier: HORIZON-CL5-2026-02-D4-04
* Programme / Cluster: Horizon Europe, Cluster 5 – Climate, Energy & Mobility
* Type of Action: Innovation Action (IA) – Lump-Sum Model
* Indicative EU contribution per project: up to €33 million
* Planned opening / closing: 16 Sep 2025 → 17 Feb 2026 (single-stage)
* Technology Readiness Level (TRL) target: typically TRL 5-8 at start → TRL 7-9 by project end (district-scale demonstration)
What the Grant Funds
The call finances large-scale design, implementation and validation of at least three real-life Positive Energy Districts that:
* Deliver an annual positive energy balance at district level and export excess renewable energy beyond the district boundary.
* Combine deep-renovation & efficiency measures, on-site RES generation, storage, smart controls/AI, e-mobility integration, and interoperable data platforms.
* Include social sciences & humanities (SSH) activities: citizen co-creation, behavioural change, social innovation, governance & business models ensuring inclusiveness and acceptance.
* Produce transferrable planning frameworks, guidelines, digital tools and training material for replication in other cities.
Eligible Applicants
* Consortia of at least three legal entities from three different EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries (standard HE rule).
* Mandatory involvement of:
* Municipal / regional authorities owning the demo districts.
* Industry partners from construction, energy, ICT.
* Research/academia and SSH experts.
* Partners from non-eligible third countries may participate at their own cost.
Financial Specifics
* Lump-sum grant: the consortium proposes a fixed EU contribution covering 100 % of eligible costs; payments are linked to the completion of agreed work packages/deliverables, not to real cost reporting.
* Budget distribution: no formal cap per partner; justify internal allocation vs. work share.
* Co-funding / leverage: voluntary additional investments by cities, utilities or private actors strengthen credibility and bankability of PEDs.
Other Key Requirements
* Demonstration sites: minimum three districts in diverse climatic, socio-economic and regulatory contexts (e.g. Nordic, Mediterranean, Central-Eastern).
* Regulatory & permitting issues: actions may include policy sandboxing, fast-track permitting, data-sharing agreements.
* Data and IPR: comply with the FAIR principles, GDPR, and Horizon Europe Open Science mandates.
* Synergies: encouraged with ERDF, LIFE, CEF2, national Recovery & Resilience plans, EIB & ELENA for scale-up.
📊 At a Glance
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🇪🇺 Strategic Advantages
EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities for Call HORIZON-CL5-2026-02-D4-04
1. Strategic Alignment with Flagship EU Agendas
• Green Deal, Fit-for-55 & REPowerEU – projects can directly demonstrate how PEDs help deliver >55 % GHG reduction by 2030, boost renewable self-consumption and reduce gas imports.
• 100 Climate-Neutral & Smart Cities Mission – consortia can use Mission Cities as pilot sites, gaining political visibility and fast-track permitting support.
• New European Bauhaus (NEB) – integrating NEB aesthetics and inclusiveness criteria boosts evaluation scores under the SSH requirement and opens access to NEB Lab vouchers.
2. Unmatched Test-Bed Diversity
• Operating in at least three EU climate zones (Nordic, Continental, Mediterranean) allows proof-of-performance of PED solutions under varying solar gains, heating loads and grid codes.
• Consortia can compare old-town heritage districts vs. post-war suburbs vs. green-field areas, feeding a robust replication handbook requested by the topic.
3. Economies of Scale & Market Acceleration
• Joint EU procurement of innovative components (vehicle-to-grid chargers, 2nd-life batteries, BIPV façades) drives costs down by 10–15 % compared with isolated national pilots.
• Harmonised performance KPIs enable a single EU market entry for SMEs, cutting certification time by ~1 year.
4. Cross-Border Energy-Market & Regulatory Learning
• PEDs can pilot peer-to-peer renewable energy trading across borders using coupled local energy communities, feeding evidence into upcoming EU Electricity Market Design revisions.
• Comparative work on DSO/TSO interaction models (e.g., Spain vs. Denmark vs. Poland) provides regulators with ready-made templates, increasing project policy impact scores.
5. Social Innovation at Continental Scale
• Access to the EU-wide Living-in.EU community and Covenant of Mayors network (>10 000 cities) multiplies citizen-engagement reach, satisfying the topic’s co-creation emphasis.
• Cross-cultural SSH research uncovers acceptance drivers that are invisible in single-country studies (e.g., trust in cooperatives in DE/AT vs. municipal utilities in FR/IT).
6. Data Interoperability & AI Deployment
• Use of EU common data spaces for energy & built environment (GAIA-X, FIWARE, IDSA) facilitates GDPR-compliant sharing of BIM, IoT and smart-meter data.
• Consortium can shape emerging CEN/CENELEC standards for PED digital twins, creating first-mover IP and influencing future tenders.
7. Synergies with Other EU Funding Instruments
• Combination with ERDF & Just Transition Funds enables large-scale CAPEX for renewables/storage in coal-region districts.
• LIFE Clean Energy or CEF2 Digital can co-finance replication platforms after 2029, ensuring exploitation beyond the Horizon project.
• Alignment with national RRF plans (e.g., IT M2C3, EL Component 1) unlocks fast-track permits and additional subsidies for demonstration sites.
8. EU-Wide Capacity-Building & Skills Pipeline
• Development of a European PED Academy (MOOC + on-site boot camps) meets the call’s training deliverable and plugs into ESCO & BUILD UP Skills initiatives.
• Harmonised curricula support mutual recognition of “Positive Energy District Manager” professional profiles under the EU Skills Agenda.
9. Administrative Advantages of Horizon Lump-Sum
• No cost reporting at line-item level cuts administrative workload by ~25 %, freeing budget for technical work.
• Simplified financial management facilitates participation of small municipalities & innovative start-ups that usually shy away from EU projects.
10. Long-Term Replication & Export Potential
• A validated PED framework across EU contexts creates a de-risked product that can be exported via EU trade agreements (e.g., EU-Japan Green Alliance).
• Establishing an EU PED Label (akin to nearly zero-energy buildings) opens avenues for taxonomy-compliant green finance and ESCO models.
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Key Opportunity Snapshot
• Access to >€15 bn of combined EU & national funds aligned with PED objectives.
• Potential 30 % faster market uptake of PED technologies through EU standardisation.
• Visibility in EU policy forums positions the consortium as go-to advisors for upcoming Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) revisions.
🏷️ Keywords
Ready to Apply?
Get a personalized assessment of your eligibility and application strategy
See in 5 min if you're eligible for Innovative approaches for the deployment of Positive Energy Districts offering max €33.0M funding