De-risking wave energy technology development through transnational pre-commercial procurement of wave energy research and development | Deadline 27 February 2026
Budget: €20.000.000
Eligible countries: EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries. Non-EU/non-Associated Countries may also be eligible if specific provisions are made.
Deadline: 17 February 2026
Description
The Horizon Europe call HORIZON-CL5-2026-02-D3-13 focuses on accelerating the development of robust, cost-effective wave energy technologies through transnational pre-commercial procurement (PCP). It aims to support wave energy converters that can withstand harsh marine environments and reach Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 7–8 by the end of the action.
Building on the EuropeWave PCP initiative, this call promotes a stage-gate evaluation process aligned with the IEA-OES framework, ensuring that selected technologies have successfully completed Stage 3 (TRL 6) and are ready for real-sea demonstrations. The action is structured into a preparation phase—where procurers agree on performance specifications and finalize procurement agreements—and an execution phase that delivers at least two commercial-scale demonstrators tested over 12 months.
Proposals must include a consortium of at least three legal entities from different EU or Horizon Europe-associated countries, including a minimum of two public procurers. Activities should cover coordination, joint research, and validation of the PCP strategy, with results shared across the European industry to foster standardization and knowledge transfer.
By the end of the action, at least one demonstrator should be ready for operational testing at commercial scale, paving the way for Stage 5 activities (commercial-scale array demonstration) under the IEA-OES framework
