The Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking (CAJU) is a successful public-private partnership between the European Commission and the European aeronautics industry that is on the way to achieving its environmental performance targets.
The Clean Aviation JU will develop disruptive new aircraft technologies to support the European Green Deal, and climate neutrality by 2050. These technologies will deliver net greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions of no less than 30%, compared to 2020 state-of-the-art. The technological and industrial readiness will allow the deployment of new aircraft incorporating these technologies no later than 2035, enabling 75% of the world’s civil aviation fleet to be replaced by 2050. The aircraft developed will enable net CO2 reductions of up to 90% when combined with the effect of sustainable ‘drop-in’ fuels, or zero CO2 emissions in flight when using hydrogen as energy source.
Clean Aviation’s aeronautics-related research and innovation activities, focusing on breakthrough technology initiatives, will contribute to the global sustainable competitiveness of the European aviation industry. European aviation research and innovation capacity will be strengthened through the partnership, enabling new and ambitious global standards to be set.
Development and demonstration of the critical components and sub-systems of a hydrogen fuel cell engine for the fully electric hydrogen fuel cell powered aircraft concept. This project will deliver and demonstrate the components and sub-systems on ground at TRL5, for a lightweight, compact and efficient fuel cell engine, demonstrated at TRL4 thus enabling a viable hydrogen fuel cell powered aircraft concept.
The configurations of the Hydrogen powered aircraft concepts proposed in Clean Aviation are expected to remain tube and wing. Such aircraft concepts are based on either a direct hydrogen combustion propulsion or a fully electric hydrogen fuel cell propulsion, with a target Entry into Service in the 2040s. For the fully electric hydrogen fuel cell powered aircraft concept, which is in scope of this topic, the aircraft capacity should be around 100 pax with a design range up to 1000 NM.
70%
The maximum EU contribution for the topic is €50.000.000.
The Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking may award up to 1 project with funding depending on the outcome of the evaluation and the complementarity of the proposed actions.
The maximum EU contribution per project funded under this topic is €50.000.000.
Proposals requesting an EU contribution above the maximum amount specified above will be declared non-eligible and will not be evaluated.
A minimum of 15% of the total EU contribution shall be allocated per proposal to Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs) and/or Universities having a beneficiary status.
Proposals not meeting this condition will be declared non-eligible and will not be evaluated.
The condition should be met by involving entities under such a legal status in the meaning of Horizon Europe rules across EU Member States and countries associated to Horizon Europe
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.