EU-wide Advantages and Opportunities for "New technologies and solutions for reducing the environmental and climate footprint of research infrastructures" (HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-TECH-01)

1. Strategic Fit with Core EU Policies

• European Green Deal & ‘Fit-for-55’ – Directly targets decarbonisation, energy efficiency and circularity objectives, reinforcing EU climate neutrality by 2050.

• Digital Europe & EU Data Strategy – Greener data collection/processing infrastructures dovetail with European data-spaces and HPC initiatives (e.g. EuroHPC JU).

• ERA Policy Agenda – Supports Action 5 (green transformation of RIs) and Action 13 (enhanced sustainability), strengthening the European Research Area.

• REPowerEU – Energy-saving technologies for large RIs reduce dependency on imported energy.

2. Single Market Access & Industrial Uptake

• Pan-EU demonstration creates a reference market of 450+ million consumers for suppliers of green cooling, renewable micro-grids, waste-heat recovery, ultra-efficient data-handling, etc.

• Establishes common performance labels/standards, lowering entry barriers for SMEs and deep-tech start-ups across Member States.

• Public-procurement channels of >€5 bn/year in EU research infrastructures can act as first-of-a-kind buyers, accelerating commercial roll-out.

3. Cross-Border Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange

• Mandatory partnership of ≥2 ESFRI/ERIC landmarks guarantees multinational consortia and automatic transnational access to expertise, data and testbeds.

• Facilitates pilots in diverse climatic & regulatory environments (Nordic, Mediterranean, Continental), stress-testing scalability.

• Opens the door to collaborate with the JRC and its 40+ platforms, ensuring fast uptake of best practice into EU legislation and standards.

4. Regulatory Harmonisation & Standard-Setting

• Development of common LCA/LCC methodologies for RIs delivers de-facto EU standard, easing permitting and reporting in every Member State.

• Supports creation of EU taxonomy-aligned metrics for sustainable investments, attracting green finance.

5. Access to Europe’s Innovation Ecosystem

• Synergies with EIT KICs (InnoEnergy, Digital, Climate), European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs), and national competence centres provide mentoring and fast-track commercialisation.

• RIs act as living labs feeding innovations back to Industrial Alliances (Batteries, Clean Hydrogen, Chips), fostering circular technology loops.

6. Funding Synergies

• Blending possibilities with:

• Innovation Fund (large-scale demonstration of low-carbon tech)

• LIFE Clean Energy & Circular Economy

• ERDF / Just Transition Fund for regional roll-out

• InvestEU guarantees for up-scaling CAPEX

• Recovery & Resilience Facility energy-saving milestones.

• Complementarity with earlier calls (e.g. INFRA-2023-TECH-01-01) prevents duplication and enables sequential TRL elevation.

7. EU-Scale Impact & Replicability

• 300+ European RIs can replicate validated solutions, creating a continental cascade effect and an estimated 25–40 % energy saving potential per facility.

• EU datasets generated under open-access principles enrich EOSC, multiplying scientific value.

• Strengthens European resilience by on-shoring production of critical components (e.g. cryogenics, superconducting cables, smart grids).

8. Societal & Regional Benefits

• Co-creation with local authorities enables heat-waste valorisation for district heating, boosting regional green jobs.

• Transparent citizen engagement across borders increases acceptance of large-scale RIs and accelerates planning processes.

• Educational spill-overs via staff training packages raise the green-skills base EU-wide.

9. Competitive Edge for Applicants

• Lump-sum model lowers administrative burden, allowing consortia to focus on innovation rather than cost reporting.

• EU branding and high visibility improve access to private investors and public buyers.

• Multinational composition enhances excellence score in evaluation, a decisive factor for RIA success (>14/15 points typically required).

10. Actionable Tips for Maximising EU-Wide Value

1. Map previous Horizon 2020/Horizon EU green-RI projects (e.g. ENLIGHT, LEAPS-ENV) and build on their datasets/tools.

2. Align KPIs with EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) to future-proof investment attraction.

3. Embed cross-border pilot demonstrators in at least three climate zones to evidence scalability.

4. Secure letters of intent from regional authorities for waste-heat or renewable-integration schemes to score on impact.

5. Leverage EOSC & GAIA-X frameworks for green data governance and open science compliance.

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Bottom Line: Operating at EU scale transforms individual green upgrades into a cohesive, standards-driven market for sustainable research infrastructures, magnifying environmental impact, accelerating industrial take-up, and cementing Europe’s technological sovereignty in climate-smart RI solutions.