HORIZON-CL5-2027-07-D3-28: Community of practice - Data-Driven Decision-Making in Energy — expected outcomes, evaluation and traps

Topic	HORIZON-CL5-2027-07-D3-28
Status	Forthcoming
Call	HORIZON-CL5-2027-07 — ENERGY
Destination	Ensuring more efficient, sustainable, secure, and competitive renewable and decarbonised energy supply (2026-27)
Type of action	Coordination and Support Actions · lump sum
Opening	4 August 2027
Deadline	1 December 2027
Budget	around EUR 6 million per project · 1 project expected · EUR 6 million in total
Part B page limit	28 pages (standard application form; check your call)
Template	Work 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 the following expected outcomes:”

EO1 Enhanced EU cooperation to generate knowledge sharing on data and analytics used for the planning and operation of European grids, and market integration.
EO2 Better EU coordination with regard to planning and simulation tools to support the development of electricity grids and integration of RES are made available to the research, academia, grid operators, and key actors in the energy value chains.
EO3 Coordinated processes to generate new and innovative open-source solutions, software modules etc. that are added to the existing and/or new repositories that support the development of grids and integration of high shares of RES.
EO4 Improved EU-wide cooperation and coordination of actions on developing and utilising innovative data-driven solutions for energy, including AI-powered tools.
EO5 Support to researchers and research organizations to maintain their research results FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) beyond research project ending and accommodating for technology evolution.
EO6 Promotion of opensource practices and collaboration across the energy sector value chain to foster the industrialization of shared methods and standards in and by the energy industry.

Expected impacts named in the destination

The wider, long-term effects the destination seeks. Your outcomes feed them; they are not project deliverables.

EI1 Energy producers have access to efficient and competitive European renewable energy and renewable fuel technologies with a solid knowledge base and are able to deploy them to enhance the EU’s energy security and reach its climate neutrality objectives, in a sustainable way in environmental (e.g., biodiversity, multiple uses of land and water, natural resources, pollution) and socioeconomic terms, and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.
EI2 Technology providers have access to European, competitive, resilient, reliable, sustainable, and affordable value chains of renewable energy and renewable fuel technologies including emerging ones, and with strong export potential to supply both the EU internal and global markets. They benefit also from circular renewable energy technologies that are safe and sustainable by design with reduced and diversified external dependence on critical raw materials.
EI3 Economic sectors benefit from better integration of renewable energy and renewable fuel-based solutions that are, among others, competitive, cost-effective, efficient, flexible, reliable, and sustainable. Such integration is facilitated through digitalisation and integration of artificial intelligence of renewable energy technologies that provide network stability and reliability.
EI4 European industries benefit from a reinforced export potential of renewable energy and renewable fuel technologies, also through international partnerships, and become more competitive in innovative renewable energy technologies in Europe and globally.
EI5 European researchers benefit from a stronger community and from a reinforced scientific basis on renewable energy and renewable fuel technologies including emerging ones, also through international collaborations.
EI6 European citizens have access to an energy market that is fair and equitable, more resilient, uses all different types of local renewable energy resources, and is less dependent on fossil fuels imports. Citizens experience less fuel and energy poverty, and also benefit from new employment and upskilling opportunities. Local communities benefit from a more decentralized, affordable, and secure energy system and from multiple uses of land and water.
EI7 R&I actions will support the just digital and green transformation of the energy system through advanced solutions for accelerating the energy systems integration and decarbonisation. The developed clean, sustainable solutions will contribute to making the energy system work better for actors and supply more reliable, resilient and secure energy – even under increasingly more frequent extreme climate events.
EI8 The solutions developed will contribute to increase flexibility and grid hosting capacity for renewables through optimizing cross sector integration and grid scale storage as well as cover off-grid situations. They will improve the preparedness of the electricity system to support the EU's binding target for 2030 of minimum of 42.5% renewables in the gross final energy consumption (with the aspiration to reach 45%), and full decarbonisation by 2050. They will enable further electrification of demand and will enhance the competitiveness of the European value chain, reduce pressure on resources (also by making technologies ‘circular by design’) and decrease dependencies. Such solutions would…
EI9 The solutions will improve consumer awareness and engagement in the energy transition, via innovative offers and services (e.g. demand response, energy communities) and will target different types of consumers, including “hard to reach” population groups (such as energy poor or low-income households). This will result in increased trust in, and uptake of the new products and services entering the energy system.
EI10 Accelerated deployment of carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) as a CO2 emission mitigation option in electricity generation and/or in industry applications, as well as carbon dioxide removal for negative emissions.

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes.
For each outcome (EO1 to EO6), 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.

“Selected projects are expected to contribute to the BRIDGE initiative and actively participate in its activities. https://bridge-smart-grid-storage-systems-digital-projects.ec.europa.eu/.”

Conditions that shape the proposal

Part B, sections 1–3: 28 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.
Coordination and support action: no research is funded. Evaluators look for coordination, networking, dissemination or policy support with a clear audience.
Other Eligible Conditions: “Subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks.”

Impact pathway and traps

The topic expects cooperation with other projects or initiatives. Reserve effort and budget for it in the work plan.
Open science or data practices are named. Make the data management plan concrete: which data, which repository, when.
Keep outputs, outcomes and impacts apart: what you deliver, what changes when others use it, and the long-term effect.
For each destination impact you claim, show which of your outcomes feeds it. 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

Projects are expected to: Facilitate the coordination and cooperation of key actors in the energy value chains (e.g. grid operators, research and academia, providers of technologies and solutions, energy suppliers, providers of energy services traded on energy markets, representatives of consumers) to build a community of practice focused on developing and maintaining key tools and technologies for using data and analytics in planning, operating and maintaining the European electricity grids, while actively managing high shares of RES in the system; Involve, cooperate with, and/or build synergies with major European and international initiatives and groupings that are active in this field; Create a European ecosystem of innovation hubs that bring together key stakeholders in the energy sector to collaborate on digitalization projects, providing a space for experimentation and agile innovation; Showcase targeted cooperation between grid operators and research & academia for implementing specific projects and/or programmes; Build blueprints, methodologies, and repositories of open-source solutions for enhanced simulations, observation, forecasting, infrastructure asset management, and decision-making in energy with a view to reduce the overall costs of system operation; Promote the use of modern solutions, such as digital twins and AI-enabled systems. Selected projects are expected to contribute to the BRIDGE initiative and actively participate in its activities. https://bridge-smart-grid-storage-systems-digital-projects.ec.europa.eu/

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.

Expected outcomes

Expected impacts named in the destination

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

What the scope asks for

Conditions that shape the proposal

Impact pathway and traps

Other topics in HORIZON-CL5-2027-07

Source and attribution