The Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETPartnership) is announcing its fifth annual call, Joint Call 2026. The call is launched in collaboration with funding organisations and programme owners across Europe and beyond. The annual calls align national and regional funding programmes and enable transnational collaboration across the energy value chain. 

The CETPartnership is an RDI programme that supports the transition towards a climate-neutral and sustainable European energy system.

General information about the application process

The Joint Call 2026 is structured into 11 Call Modules. These modules cover different thematic areas, scopes, RDI types, and Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs). More information on topics under Joint Call 2026 will be made available leading up to the Call Launch event.

The call consists of a two-stage application process. First, a submission of a pre-proposal, followed by an invitation to submit a full proposal. 

• Stage 1: Submission of a pre-proposal
  A project consortium chooses one Call Module for the pre-proposal (scroll further to find the name of this year's Call Modules). If the pre-proposal is selected, the project consortium is invited to submit a full proposal.

• Stage 2: Submission of a full proposal
  Only if the pre-proposal is invited to participate in Stage 2 can the applicants begin preparing a full proposal.

Funding for Joint Call 2026 is a collaboration with funding organisations and programme owners, who will fund eligible costs directly to Beneficiary Partners based in their country/region. 
Applicants must therefore comply with the specific national/regional eligibility criteria and requirements, which can be found in the call text. Several funding organisations can require submission of a proposal at national/regional level. 

After the selection of projects from the full proposal stage, the funding organisations are responsible for contracting and processing payments.

General information about eligibility criteria and requirements

The Joint Call includes the following eligibility criteria and requirements:

• Transnational eligibility requirements, applicable for all project consortia applying to the Call.

• Call Module requirements, applicable for project consortia applying to Call Modules with specific thematic requirements.

• National/regional requirements, applicable for partners applying for funding from Funding Agencies in the Call.

All Project Consortium Partners are encouraged to carefully check all eligibility criteria and requirements, which will be outlined in the call text. Different Call Modules and different Funding Agencies may support different types of entities, TRLs, etc. 

Upon a successful full proposal, it is important for applicants to know that payment will be provided directly through the respective funding organisation under which the partner applied. The CETPartnership Call Management Team is only responsible for coordinating and processing the applications on behalf of the funding organisations involved. 

To learn more about the upcoming Joint Call 2026, please join us for the Call Launch scheduled at the end of May (date TBC).

More information about the call text, modules and requirements will follow this winter/spring. 

Please be advised that the call modules are subject to change.

For further information, follow the link.

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