
ACT is an international initiative to facilitate RD&D and innovation within CO2 capture, transport, utilisation and storage (CCUS).


ACT is an ERA NET Cofund, which is a tool established by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 programme for research and innovation. The idea behind ERA NET Cofunds is that European countries should join forces when it comes to funding RD&D and innovation on subjects of high European interest. ACT is one of many ERA NET Cofunds, but ACT is the only ERA NET Cofund addressing CCS.


The intention of ACT is to facilitate the emergence of CCUS by accelerating and maturing CCUS technology through targeted financing of innovation and research activities. ACT will address the technological, environmental, social and economic challenges required to accelerate CCUS. Projects that incorporate or address the Priority Research Directions (PRDs, link) identified at the Mission Innovation CCUS Challenge Workshop (Houston 2017) will be particularly welcome.


Successful projects will facilitate the emergence of CCUS in the energy and industrial sectors. The ACT ambition of accelerating the time to market for CCUS technology will require industrial involvement in research and innovation activities. Therefore, project proposals that are led by industrial partners are particularly welcome. The call does not include specific targets for Technology Readiness Level (TRL, see Figure 1), but large projects should include higher TRL levels and all projects must aim to advance the TRL as a result of the project. More information on TRLs eligible for support can be found in the national/regional annexes. ACT recognizes that the acceleration of the deployment of CCUS technologies needs to consider not only TRLs but also costs, markets and supporting frameworks. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has developed and applied the concept of a Commercial Readiness Index, CRI. The CRI casts technologies on the one hand in terms of a commercial status (its commercial value proposition and the ability to obtain financing for deployment). On the other hand, technologies are characterized by a set that describes the regulatory environment, stakeholder acceptance, technical performance, technoeconomic assessments and revenue generation potential, state of the supply chain, pathways to market and maturity of the sector where a technology might be deployed. This approach enables the consideration of a complementary set of indicators that are largely governed by location-specific factors that lends itself to transnational research and innovation projects where both, TRL and CRI need advances to accelerate deployment.


ACT is seeking innovative projects that range from smaller research projects to new or already existing pilot and demonstration facilities sites. New pilot and demonstration facilities should have potential for upscaling to industrial size either in a demo phase or early commercial phase. The combination of activities ranging from basic to applied research within one project is eligible and encouraged (differentiation between research stages should be described in the relevant work packages) as long as the eligibility rules of the individual funding agencies involved are fulfilled.


The following applies in general to all projects:




No partner may represent more than 70% of the activity (in terms of person months) in the project. 


Consortia may consist of partners from universities, companies, industry organisations, local/regional governments, research organisations and NGOs. 


Consortia may consist of partners across several positions and disciplines within research and development systems (i.e. basic research, applied research, innovation, business etc.)  In the case of the large projects, the consortia are required to demonstrate the interest of industry partner(s) by actively involving them in the project. 


All partners must provide a Letter of Intent as part of the full proposal. Such a letter must contain an explicit declaration regarding any financial or in-kind contributions agreed upon and the role of the partner. In-kind is regarded as a contribution of an individual’s and or entity’s time and or materials (use of software or access to facilities) which may or may not have a cost and may or may not be a signatory to a grant agreement.


Changes to the composition of the consortium are permitted, provided that if a partner is dropping out, is being replaced or is added, this will have only a minor impact on the planned output of a consortium. Any change to the project of any type requires the prior approval of the involved funding bodies.




Each project proposal must be submitted by a project consortium consisting of at least three eligible applicants funded by at least three countries / regions participating in this ACT call. Each project consortium must have the required expertise to undertake research and development within the specified themes.


In addition to the general rules and procedures, specific eligibility criteria apply for each of the participating funding bodies, which must also be met by applicants. This includes but is not limited to: restrictions on the types of organisations that can be funded, requirements regarding the types of activities that can be funded, national/regional evaluation rules, maximum funding per partner or per project, etc. We strongly recommend that applicants contact the national/regional contact person at the relevant funding body (see Annex 1) to confirm their eligibility before submitting a proposal.


Within the framework of ACT, a two-stage submission and evaluation procedure will be adopted. All pre-proposals (stage 1) and full proposals (stage 2) to this ACT call shall be submitted by the lead applicant to the ACT Secretariat (Research Council of Norway, RCN).


The call for pre-proposals is open until 10 November 2020 (13:00 CET).


The call for full proposals will close on 15 March 2021 (13:00 CET).


For applicants in EU countries, compliance with EU rules and guidelines for state aid is crucial. Each of the ACT funding organisations shall ensure that their funding of the respective national/regional part of an ACT project is in accordance with state aid regulations.


Horizon 2020: ACT Eranet - Call 2020

ACT is an international initiative to facilitate RD&D and innovation within CO2 capture, transport, utilisation and storage (CCUS).

European Commission

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