Multi-fuel SOFC powertrain for maritime transport

The grant aims to foster the development, design, and demonstration of robust multi-fuel Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) powertrains tailored for maritime transport. This topic addresses the urgent need to decarbonise global shipping, reducing greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions by supporting innovative SOFC systems capable of operating efficiently with hydrogen and other alternative fuels under challenging marine conditions. Projects must demonstrate improved system durability, efficiency, and integration in maritime vessels, with the ultimate goal of enabling large-scale, reliable, and safe multi-MW SOFC installations to accelerate the green energy transition in waterborne transport and strengthen Europe's industry in low- and zero-emission maritime technologies.

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Agency	HORIZON (EU)
Region	EU
Country	N/A
Legal form	Company, NGO, Government organization, Other
Start date	10 Feb 2026
End date	15 Apr 2026
Max funding	EUR 8,000,000
Budget	EUR 105,000,000 for Clean Hydrogen call (2026)
Coverage	Lump sum funding; beneficiaries may receive co-funding from private or public stakeholders, especially for high TRL demonstrations and large-scale flagship projects.

Grant application conditions

Admissibility Conditions	Proposal must follow the page limit and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. For Innovation Actions, applications are limited to 70 pages.
Eligible Countries	Applicants must be from EU Member States or Associated Countries as described in Annex B. Non-EU/non-Associated Countries may participate if they have funding provisions.
Maximum Requested Contribution	The maximum Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (JU) contribution that may be requested is EUR 8,000,000.
Consortium Membership Requirement	For select topics, including large-scale demonstration projects and those targeting maritime applications, at least one partner in the consortium must be a member of either Hydrogen Europe or Hydrogen Europe Research.
Financial and Operational Capacity	Applicants must demonstrate sufficient financial and operational capacity; exclusions apply as described in Annex C.
Evaluation Criteria and Process	Award criteria, scoring, thresholds, submission, and evaluation processes as described in Annex D and Annex F. Applicants must exceed all evaluation thresholds to be considered and may receive the STEP (Sovereignty) Seal as a quality label.
Grant Model and Eligible Costs	Funding is provided as a lump sum as per the Decision of 7 July 2021. For specific topics, full capitalised costs for equipment/infrastructure purchased for the action can be declared. Subcontracting is only allowed in EU Member States and Associated Countries.
Intellectual Property Rights	Beneficiaries must, up to 4 years after project end, inform the granting authority if results could meaningfully contribute to European or international standards (for topics including standardisation activities).
Technology Requirements	Projects must design and manufacture a minimum 100 kW SOFC system for multi-fuel operation under maritime conditions. Systems must pass validation under simulated harsh maritime environments (vibrations, tilting, salt mist, temperature/humidity swings). Testing for at least 1,000 hours with at least one fully decarbonised fuel (e.g. hydrogen or ammonia); multi-fuel mode is encouraged. Target KPIs: 10 MW FC power (as a sum of smaller blocks), 80,000 h lifetime, CAPEX of 2,000 €/kW, electrical efficiency 60% (95% with heat recovery), 99% availability, warm start-up within 2 minutes.
Consortium Composition	Consortia must include stakeholders across the value chain (fuel cell manufacturers, shipbuilders or designers, maritime operators, research institutions, classification societies/regulatory bodies).
Synergies and Collaboration	Applicants must leverage results of previous relevant EU-funded projects (e.g. Helenus, Fuelsome, ShipFC) and actively cooperate for further advancement. For activities involving test protocols, cooperation with JRC is required; EU harmonised testing protocols must be applied.
Technology Readiness Level (TRL)	Projects are expected to start at TRL 4 and achieve TRL 6 by project end.
Documentation	https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-JU-CLEANH2-2026-03-04

Eligible expenses

Evaluation criteria

Business exclusions

Reporting

Application process

Application requirements