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HORIZON EUROPE TOPIC · Cluster 5 · Climate, Energy and Mobility

Demonstration of industrial excess/waste heat conversion to mechanical or electrical power

HORIZON-CL5-2027-05-D4-09 — the expected outcomes as checkable statements, what evaluators look for in this topic, and the conditions that shape the proposal.

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ForthcomingIA · lump sumDeadline 15 September 2027around EUR 6.75 million per project

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TopicHORIZON-CL5-2027-05-D4-09
StatusForthcoming
CallHORIZON-CL5-2027-05 — BATTERIES and ENERGY
Type of actionInnovation Actions · lump sum
Opening5 May 2027
Deadline15 September 2027
Budgetaround EUR 6.75 million per project · 2 projects expected · EUR 13.5 million in total
TRL at the endTRL 7–8
Part B page limit45 pages (standard application form; check your call)
TemplateWork Programme 2026–2027 application form

Expected outcomes

Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes. The topic says: “Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:”

  1. EO1 Based on the results of the project, at least one industrial sector with a significant heating demand in the EU and Associated Countries develops pathways and business models to measurably increase the industrial excess/waste heat recovery and conversion to power, thereby reducing their energy costs.
  2. EO2 Measurable improvement of industrial excess/waste heat recovery and conversion to power, possibly combined with energy storage, in terms of energy efficiency, flexibility of electricity production, climate and environment protection, reliability and safety, physical and cyber security, and profitability.

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

  • Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes.
  • For each outcome (EO1 to EO2), name who will use or adopt your results (a specific group, not “industry” or “society”), how they get them, and the indicator that shows the change, with baseline, target and date.
  • Use the topic's own words for each outcome, so the evaluator can tick it off.

What the scope asks for

Evaluators check the proposal against these sentences of the scope. Answer each one visibly, in the call's own words.

  • “Projects must address all the following items:.”
  • “Already before starting the design phase, the needs of most EU and Associated Countries’ factories in the same industrial sector(s) should be surveyed and analysed in order to design a solution that can be adapted to meet most of them.”

Conditions that shape the proposal

  • Part B, sections 1–3: 45 pages (standard application form). Text beyond the limit is not read; tables and figures count.
  • Lump sum: the budget is fixed per work package and paid when each work package is completed. Every work package needs activities and deliverables an evaluator can verify, and the effort must match the money.
  • TRL: the topic expects TRL 7–8 by the end of the project. State where you start and the evidence for it.
  • Innovation action: evaluators expect a plausible path to commercialisation and named first users or customers.
  • Other Eligible Conditions: “In line with the “ restriction on control in innovation actions in critical technology areas ” delineated in General Annex B of the General Annexes, entities established in an eligible country but which are directly or indirectly controlled by China or by a legal entity established in China are not eligible to…”

Impact pathway and traps

  • The scope expects pilots or demonstration. Name the sites, the partners who run them and what is measured there.
  • Standardisation is mentioned. Name the committees or bodies and the partner who engages with them.
  • Market uptake is part of the scope. Evaluators look for a credible route to market with named first adopters.
  • Keep outputs, outcomes and impacts apart: what you deliver, what changes when others use it, and the long-term effect.
  • Link your outcomes to the destination's expected impacts in the Work Programme. Destination impacts are long-term effects, not project deliverables.
  • Name the barriers outside the project (regulation, markets, user behaviour) that could block uptake, and what you will do if they do.
  • Section 2.3 (the summary canvas) is optional on this call; the old split into scientific, economic and societal impact is no longer required.
The scope, as published

Better use of process excess/waste heat represents a significant source of energy savings for industries. The conversion of excess heat back to electricity, would improve energy efficiency, mitigate the increase of electricity consumption and cost due to industrial electrification, as well as offer flexible electricity generation to stabilise the grid, if combined with thermal and/or electrical energy storage. Projects must address all the following items: Develop and validate novel excess/waste heat recovery and conversion systems. Demonstrate physically within one or more operational industrial site(s), the recovery of industrial excess/waste heat, possibly combined with energy storage, and its conversion to mechanical or electrical power. Maximise the replicability and deployment of the concept/solution in the EU and Associated Countries’ plants in the same industrial sector. Already before starting the design phase, the needs of most EU and Associated Countries’ factories in the same industrial sector(s) should be surveyed and analysed in order to design a solution that can be adapted to meet most of them. Identify common components, optimise and define a standardised and cost-competitive version of them. Develop open technical and economical guidelines and open tools for integrating such systems into SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) and EMS (Energy Management System) infrastructures of existing plants, and for developing innovative business model of heat valorisation as a flexible electricity generation offered to stabilise the power grid. Disseminate results notably (but not only) to the relevant communities in cluster 4 ‘Digital, Industry and Space’ private-public partnerships.

Technology readiness, as published

Activities are expected to achieve TRL 7-8 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL.

Other topics in HORIZON-CL5-2027-05

Source and attribution

Topic text from the official topic page on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, retrieved 19 October 2026. © European Union, reused under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU (CC BY 4.0). Changes: the expected outcomes and impacts are split into numbered statements, long passages are shortened, and the evaluator checklist is GrantWise's own commentary. Your call and the Work Programme always win; check them before you submit. GrantWise is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the European Commission.