Co-funding Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan renewable fuel value chains at EU, national, regional, and local level

Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Advance in the realisation of the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan Action of Renewable fuels and Bioenergy (for the fuels part) is supported, overcoming fragmentation by mobilizing resources and establishing across EU interregional value chains of renewable fuel technologies and by better alignment of public and private R&I priorities and of funding mechanisms.
• All sector stakeholders benefit from establishment of renewable fuels value chains at EU, national, regional, and local level overcoming fragmentation across Europe.
• Different stakeholders (e.g., EU, SET Plan countries, regions, communities, etc) benefit from their engagement in the co-creation of a very flexible R&I Programme in renewable fuels.
• Researchers, industry, and public authorities have access to increased knowledge and challenges of the different renewable fuel technologies along their lifecycle and value chains and benefit from synergies to overcome fragmentation of the value chains and from increased critical mass in implementing R&I activities in the area.
• Technology providers profit from technology development, successful demonstration and de-risking of a portfolio of renewable fuel technologies, improved access to better financing exploiting synergies across funding schemes, and from more effective market uptake, increased competitiveness and commercialization opportunities.
• Energy producers, clean tech manufacturing industries and consumers benefit from improved performance and security of a portfolio of renewable fuel technologies and from better exploitation opportunities in a larger and more homogeneous marketplace.
• Policy makers and regulators are provided with evidence to accelerate permitting procedures and increase the public acceptance of innovative and sustainable renewable fuel projects, minimizing negative environmental impacts including biodiversity, and improving the regulatory framework.

Scope:

Following the revamp of the SET Plan and its anchoring to the NZIA and the European Research Area, it becomes urgent to boost the R&I activities envisaged already under the SET Plan Implementation Plans and their further updates and contribute towards pooling diverse resources to increase the R&I funding and impact across the European Research Area. This action is complementary to existing projects and instruments like the Clean Energy Technology (CET) Partnership^[1] with the vision to support, facilitate and reinforce that work by providing a focused programming framework and coordinated network of active and connected stakeholders in renewable fuels.

This action aims to create connected regional renewable fuel value chain activities across Europe, involving regions with lower innovation performances, by sharing and transferring capacities and know-how. The challenge is to overcome fragmentation of the value chains where different regions have different capacities (feedstock, technology, skills) and create collaboration at EU, national, regional or local level to collectively develop and implement complete value chains of renewable fuel technologies.

The action should contribute to the implementation of the Implementation Plan^[2] and its updated version(s) of the Implementation Working Group of Renewable fuels and Bioenergy under the revamped SET Plan. All renewable fuel technologies, both of biological and non-biological origin, at all TRL levels and market up-take measures, which are listed in this Implementation Plan and its updated version(s), but also new identified interregional and transnational challenges across these value chains, are within scope, including for example feedstock standardization, permitting fragmentation and lack of fit-for-purpose business models in rural regions, and using artificial intelligence as appropriate. Activities should draw from the detailed R&I activities program of the Implementation Plan of the SET Plan Action Renewable Fuels and Bioenergy (Annex I) regarding development, demonstration (also at pilot scale) and scale-up of

• Advanced liquid and gaseous biofuels^[3] through biochemical / thermochemical/ chemical conversion from sustainable biomass and/or from autotrophic microorganisms and primary renewable energy.
• Other renewable liquid and gaseous fuels^[3] (with particular attention to direct solar and algae-based fuels but excluding hydrogen as end-product) through thermochemical/ chemical /biochemical /electrochemical transformation of energy neutral carriers (like CO2 or N2) with renewable energy.
• Solid, liquid and gaseous intermediate bioenergy carriers through biochemical / thermochemical/ chemical conversion from sustainable biomass and further upgrading to advanced biofuels

taking into account the input defined in this context by the Implementation Working Group on Renewable Fuels and Bioenergy, the European Technology and Innovation Platform on Bioenergy (ETIP Bioenergy), the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) Bioenergy Joint Programme and the SET Plan Direct Solar Fuel forum as its SRIA becomes available.

The action may support networking and coordination, research and innovation, pilot actions, market uptake measures, training and mobility, awareness raising and communication, and dissemination and exploitation across an entire value chain of renewable fuel technologies, thus providing the highest possible flexibility for activities in supporting the related challenges. The action should establish a joint comprehensive plan of activities. The range of activities supported should include an appropriate set of research projects, demonstration projects, technology transfer projects and other activities.

The activities carried out through FSTP calls can pertain to any of the research and innovation areas listed above in scope. The applicants must clearly describe in their proposal the objectives and the expected results of the FSTP call.

The FSTP calls should take into account the provisions on ‘financial support to third parties’ set out in Annex B of the General Annexes and incorporate them into the proposal.

The FSTP calls should consider specifically elements within the FSTP schemes to address broad EU geographical balance.

The FSTP calls should be open to any public or private entities, including SMEs

The consortium is expected to ensure that eligibility for financial support to third parties is extended to participants established in any EU Member States and Associated Countries.

Applicants are advised to consult the European Commission’s guidance on FSTP activities^[5].

Inclusiveness of a broad range of EU Member States and Associated Countries is expected, aiming at involving also partners coming from Eastern Europe who could enable solutions, thus strengthening their engagement in the SET Plan. Participation of public interest legal entities such as state, and notably regional and local authorities, which may have particular interest in regional development of renewable fuel value chains, is encouraged.

Implementation of the action should profit from and capitalize the expertise in collaborating and networking of the relevant R&D programmes of national governments of the ERA-NET-Bioenergy network^[6] on European research cooperation and coordination related to the field of the SET Plan Action Renewable Fuels and Bioenergy, as well as from the EU ERA-NET BESTF3^[7].

The action is expected to have a duration of 5 years. It is expected that the action will organize joint transnational calls on an annual basis and will consider ample time for the implementation of the co-funded projects, notably before its end. Flexibility in defining activities for joint calls and implementing these calls adjusted to specific needs among beneficiaries is encouraged while FSTP must be defined in accordance with legal application requirements^[8]. Appropriate monitoring and reporting of the results is expected.

The proposal should envisage to design and carry out coordination and clustering activities of the co-funded projects and also with other Horizon Europe projects of renewable fuels. These activities should also include synergies, communication (joint meetings), dissemination and exploitation and contribute to the Knowledge Community of the CETPartnership.

Hydrogen production as end-product and heat and power production are not in scope.

[1] TRI 3: Enabling Climate Neutrality with Storage Technologies, Renewable Fuels and CCU/CCS | CET Partnership

[2] Action 8 Implementation Plan (in future “Common Implementation Plan”)

[3] In line with the amended Renewable Energy Directive

[4] In line with the amended Renewable Energy Directive

[5] European Commission (2025), Good practices for implementing financial support to third parties (FSTP) in EU grants.

[6] https://international.fnr.de/project-funding/european-projects/era-net/era-net-bioenergy

[7] https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/691637

[8] https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/temp-form/af/information-on-financial-support-to-third-parties_he_en.docx