Energy efficiency and sustainability of AI data processing in Data Centres (IA)
DIGITAL · HORIZON-IA · TRL 6–8 · Needs partners
What this call funds
This call funds pilot projects that make AI data centres more energy efficient and sustainable, covering better chip cooling, next-generation backup power systems, and smarter data centre-wide energy management. It also funds one open demonstration site that will bring together and showcase the results from the other funded projects as a European reference site. The goal is to cut cooling and power costs, reuse waste heat, and support Europe's technological independence in AI infrastructure.
energy efficiency · artificial intelligence · advanced materials · batteries · cloud edge computing · high performance computing
Who wins this
This call suits industrial consortia and research organisations developing near-market (TRL 6-8) hardware or software innovations for data centre cooling, power storage, or energy optimisation, or a partnership able to host and run a European pilot demonstration site for AI data centre technologies.
Could you win this call?
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The call in detail
- Indicative grant size
- €10M
- Funding model
- Budget-based — reimbursement of actual eligible costs
- Submission
- Single-stage submission (full proposal at once)
- Type of action
- HORIZON Innovation Actions
- Partners
- Required. The call asks for a consortium — a group applying together, typically 3+ organisations from 3+ countries.
- Also required
- Entities directly or indirectly controlled by China or a Chinese legal entity are not eligible to participate; four projects expected in total (three on outcomes 1-3, one on the pilot demonstration site), with at least two use cases per project for outcomes 1-3.
- Sectors
- AI/ML · Deep Tech · Manufacturing · Aerospace
- Eligible countries (45)
- Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, United Kingdom, IL, TR, UA, RS, MK, ME, AL, BA, XK, GE, AM, MD, TN, NZ
Read the full conditions from the official call ›
General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible Countries described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. 3. Other Eligible Conditions In line with the “ restriction on control in innovation actions in critical technology areas ” delineated in General Annex B of the General Annexes, entities established in an eligible country but which are directly or indirectly controlled by China or by a legal entity established in China are not eligible to participate in the action. Subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks. Described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds To ensure a balanced portfolio coverage, grants will be awarded to applications not only in order of ranking, but also to at least three proposals addressing expected outcomes 1-3 (improve heat removal from high-power AI, novel backup power systems and data centre optimisation for energy-efficient AI processing) and one proposal focussed on offering an open pilot demonstration site, subject to proposals passing all evaluation thresholds. Described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions described in the topic conditions
Who has won calls like this
Organisations that most often win this call family · 86 past winners