Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
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.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
Integration and performance assessment of the fully electric hydrogen fuel cell powered aircraft and the direct hydrogen combustion propulsion aircraft concepts introduced in the CAJU SRIA. The topic covers the integration and co-ordination of CAJU key technology projects into a comprehensive aircraft concept at TRL4, demonstrating the viability of the aircraft concept and delivering a performance, emissions and maturity assessment.
Detailed Call Description
The second phase of Clean Aviation (2026-2030) will concentrate on integration and demonstration of technologies into hydrogen powered aircraft concepts, or combined with Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in a dual fuel application.
From the aircraft concepts proposed as part of Clean Aviation SRIA, this topic shall focus on the following aircraft configurations:
- A direct hydrogen combustion propulsion aircraft concept with 100-150 pax capacity and a design range up to 1400NM.
- A fully electric hydrogen fuel cell powered aircraft concept with 100 pax capacity and a design range up to 1000NM.
The proposed concepts at the start should depart from aircraft concepts and technologies developed under the first phase (2022-2026) of the Clean Aviation programme, privately funded and/or funded by national/regional or other European programmes with a minimum technology maturity of TRL3.
The proposals shall explore the most promising routes among various aircraft concepts and critical technologies having the potential to deliver viable, energy efficient aircraft concept. Selected aircraft concepts should meet a technology readiness level of TRL4 (for critical technologies) and demonstrate a route to a certification readiness level of CRL4 by the end of the programme.
Additional technologies in which a high level of innovation and promising benefits are expected (e.g.: superconductivity and cryocooling electronics), should also be considered and evaluated as alternative solutions enabling more ambitious and higher perforce aircraft concepts.
With regards to certification, EASA Certification Readiness Level (CRL) framework shall be used to demonstrate a clear certification path. A CRL6 roadmap at aircraft level should be defined by the end of the project. The aircraft concept integration topic shall lead the regulatory discussions with the objective to minimise the number of contracts and interfaces with the certification authorities. Exchange of sufficient technical knowledge to feed the regulatory discussions between the relevant projects and the aircraft concept topic should be established.
With the aim to define the route to exploitation, an operational assessment should be performed to support the successful deployment and continuous operation of future hydrogen powered aircraft, including ground operations, repairability and maintainability.
The project is required to exploit the involvement and expertise of EASA in the proposal to de-risk and secure the certification of novel aircraft concepts with the aim to assess and demonstrate how the envisaged solutions will be potentially certifiable(ref. topic conditions related to “Involvement of EASA”).
The project shall identify and implement synergies with activities funded under research and innovation programmes at regional8 , national9 and European10 level, and demonstrate how the project will benefit from these activities by detailing the specific contributions to the expected outcomes.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
70%
The maximum EU contribution for the topic is €6.000.000
The Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking may award up to 2 projects with funding depending on the outcome of the evaluation and the alignment of the proposed actions.
The maximum EU contribution for each of the projects is €3.000.000
In the selection of projects to be retained for funding, strong consideration will be given to the comprehensiveness and complementarity of the proposed actions, ensuring the broadest coverage of aircraft types and their payload/range capability. The project may address one or more aircraft concepts for either a fully electric hydrogen powered aircraft or for a direct hydrogen combustion propulsion hydrogen aircraft as identified in the Clean Aviation Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda.
Thematic Categories
- Energy
- Environment and Climate Change
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Transport
Eligibility for Participation
- Businesses
- Educational Institutions
- Large Enterprises
- Legal Entities
- Other Beneficiaries
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
Eligibility For Participation Notes
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.