Innovation project in the industrial sector: Energy and transport 2026

The purpose of this call is to promote research-based innovation and restructuring in the industrial sector, increase market opportunities and provide financial benefits for companies.

The projects must contribute to a sustainable and future-oriented low-emission society with enough renewable energy in the right place at the right time, safe and robust land-based and ocean-based transport solutions, sustainable utilisation of natural resources and a competitive industrial sector. The innovation must benefit environmentally friendly energy, petroleum, maritime or transport.

Companies in the petroleum sector can also apply for funding for demonstrations of new technology. Companies in the transport sector can apply for funding to pilot new technology. Companies in the field of environmentally friendly energy that want to demonstrate new technology must apply to Enova.

This call has four sub-themes. It must be clear in the application which topic the application is aimed at. The financial framework, delimitations and priorities within the teams are described further down in the call.  

Environmentally-friendly energy

Research on environmentally-friendly energy is intended to support long-term and sustainable development of the energy system, help ensure that we have good access to competitive renewable energy in the right place at the right time, and that we use energy efficiently.

Environmentally-friendly energy includes research in the following areas:

• renewable energy production from hydropower, wind, solar, ocean, bio and geothermal energy
• energy distribution infrastructures and their integration
• solutions for energy use in buildings, construction and built-up areas
• energy efficiency and decarbonization of industrial processes
• battery and electrification of transport
• hydrogen, other hydrogen-based energy carriers and biofuels
• energy transition and impacts on society, climate and nature

In the project description, you must describe how the project may have direct and/or indirect potential for cuts in CO2 emissions, energy efficiency or a more energy-efficient value chain.

Petroleum

Funding is available for projects that address issues related to petroleum activities in open areas on the Norwegian continental shelf. For issues related to safety in the Norwegian petroleum industry, onshore facilities may also be relevant. Applications for this topic must fall under at least one of the following areas:

• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency and the environment
• Subsurface understanding
• Drilling, completion, intervention and permanent abandonment of wells (P&A)
• Production, processing and transport
• Major accidents and the working environment

Companies in the petroleum sector can also apply for funding for demonstrations of new technology. For petroleum, the portfolio assessment will also involve a balance between innovation projects and projects that are intended to demonstrate new technology.

All applications must clearly be aimed at the petroleum industry. Further descriptions of the areas are provided in the OG21 strategy.  Petroleum is open to projects with extensive research content and piloting of new technology. Projects with a high proportion of demonstration activity should be carried out in effective collaboration with at least one end user of the technology. Operators and licensees are welcome as partners, but cannot be Project Owners. 

Maritime

Maritime includes all types of ships and vessels, including vessels and maritime technology related to other ocean industries. You can apply for support for research, development and innovation that contributes to sustainable growth and value creation, increased competitiveness and exports from the maritime industry.  

This includes new expertise and innovations in the areas of:

• Digitalisation of the maritime industry
• Green shipping
• Safety at sea

The areas are based on the prioritised strategy areas set out in the Maritim21 strategy. Digitalisation and safety at sea may include artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, monitoring and secure digital solutions for ships and vessels with relevance for both civilian and military applications (dual-use).   

Transport (Pilot-T)

The funding for the topic of transport is part of the Pilot-T initiative. The projects that receive support will get new, smart mobility solutions into use faster by developing and testing and/or piloting technologies, services and business models with the potential to influence the transport system of the future so that it becomes efficient, environmentally friendly and safe. They can include both freight and passenger transport within all four modes of transport (road, rail, sea and air), and will make significant contributions to one or more of the goals in the National Transport Plan (NTP), in addition to the overall goal of an efficient, environmentally friendly and safe transport system throughout the country by 2050.

Environmentally friendly energy

You cannot apply for funding for projects in the field of nuclear power. Nor can you apply for funding for projects within CO2 capture, CO2 transport and CO2 storage, see Climit Demo.

Petroleum

You cannot apply for funding for projects within CO2 capture, CO2 transport and CO2 storage.  

Maritime

For logistics and intermodal transport, funding is limited to projects where maritime transport is a core component.

Transport

We do not support projects that will develop environmentally friendly energy carriers, such as batteries, hydrogen and biofuels, clean investments in charging infrastructure, offshore operations, fisheries or general technology development related to the maritime sector.

For all of the sub-topics above, the Portfolio Board will prioritise projects that:

• involve broad participation of partners (Norwegian companies) from different actors in the value chains
• has a concrete and credible plan for financing the project and realistic plans for development, industrialisation and scaling
• will strengthen Norwegian business and industry

The portfolio board will strive for a balanced project portfolio that covers the thematic breadth within each of the thematic areas, namely environment-friendly energy, petroleum, maritime and transport.

The Research Council will fund projects that have a place on the road to a low-emission society in line with the Paris Agreement. In cases where two projects have received otherwise equal assessments, the portfolio board will prioritise the project that is most sustainable in terms of effects on climate, the environment and society.

For more information, see the investment plan and the portfolio plan for energy and transport (Norwegian only).  

In the area of environmentally friendly energy, we will also prioritise:

The portfolio board will strive for a balanced project portfolio that covers the thematic breadth of environmentally friendly energy. When choosing among applications that are otherwise considered to be approximately as good, we will prioritise projects in 2026 that will contribute to:

• efficient and flexible energy use in buildings, construction, areas and land-based industry
• realisation of Norway's offshore wind ambitions, including environmental impacts and safety and security aspects

 In the petroleum sector, priority will also be given to applications aimed at:

• Energy efficiency and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions on the Norwegian shelf: Projects aimed at improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions related to petroleum activities on the Norwegian shelf must provide an account of the total emission reductions for the technology(s) that the project will develop, including a quantitative climate account. You must also describe the time perspective and framework conditions for implementing the knowledge/technology and see it in the context of the industry's new climate goals for 2030 and 2050.  
• Plugging and abandonment of wells (P&A): Research aimed at cost-effective shutdown of oil and gas wells on the Norwegian continental shelf.  
• Major accidents and the working environment: Research efforts on safety and security in the petroleum activities.

In the maritime sector, we will also prioritise:

We will prioritise projects that involve broad participation from partners representing different actors across the Norwegian maritime value chain. 

Funding decisions will be based on a holistic portfolio assessment by the portfolio board. In addition to the marks of individual projects, consideration will be given to the overall balance of the portfolio across thematic areas, types of actors, and the gender of the project manager.

Part of the funding for the maritime theme is earmarked for projects aligned with the Maritime Zero 2050 initiative. These projects are expected to contribute to new, better and feasible zero-emission solutions for ships operating over longer distances.  The projects shall generate new knowledge and develop new technology and solutions that are suitable for vessel segments and sailing distances for which zero‑emission solutions are not yet available.

The solutions must be industrially scalable and create a basis for sustainable growth in exports.

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Collaborative Project to Meet Challenges in the Maritime Industry

The Project Owner must be registered in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises and have economic activity in Norway. This means that the Project Owner must either be a private company, or a public enterprise that conducts activities of an industrial or commercial nature. In the rest of the call, we use the collective term "company".

Sole proprietorships cannot be Project Owners, but they can be partners.

There are no formal requirements for the project manager, but the professionals will assess whether the person in question has relevant skills and experience.

Norwegian companies that are to be partners must meet the same criteria as the Project Owner in order to participate in the project and receive funding. Partners must enter into effective collaboration with the Project Owner, which means, among other things, that they share both the risk and the results that result from the project. The partners whose costs are covered for part of their costs by the Research Council's support will be recipients of state aid. Read more about effective collaboration.

All partners must have identified costs in the project, but they can choose not to have the costs covered through the award.

For sole proprietorships that are to be partners, there are separate rules for the costs we can cover.

Norwegian and foreign research organisations and other expert communities can participate in the project as R&D suppliers, with responsibility for carrying out R&D work on behalf of the companies in the project. R&D providers are not required to contribute to financing the project, and therefore do not normally have rights to the project results. They deliver work on commission, and are paid for this work at market price. If an R&D provider is nevertheless to take part in the rights to the project results, the price of the agreed assignment must be adjusted by deducting the market value of the rights from the price.

Where doctoral work is part of the R&D provider's work on the project, you may not impose restrictions on the publication of the doctoral work, with the exception of any pre-agreed postponement of the date of publication.

Since the research organisations' work in the innovation projects is carried out on assignment, the work of universities and university colleges in such projects is defined as contract-funded activity. This means that work performed by PhD candidates must also be invoiced at market price. The prizes for this work are not tied to the Research Council's fixed rates for research fellows. Any research fellows who carry out work in these projects do not have the same rights to have their stays abroad covered as research fellows who are wholly or partly funded by the Research Council.

Foreign organisations that are not R&D providers in the project can participate, but they cannot receive support from us. Instead, they must cover their own costs in full.

The Project Owner or partners may engage subcontractors to deliver services and contribute to the implementation of certain tasks in the project. Subcontractors cannot be given rights to project results.

Organisations that are subject to the regulations for public procurement must in the usual way carry out the selection of subcontractors in line with these regulations.

Read more about the use of subcontractors.

Actors who are not described above, such as other international and public actors, can participate in the project, but you must not include them as partners in the application form. You should instead mention this type of collaboration in the application form, under Implementation.

Read more about collaboration agreements, partners and R&D providers.

For environmentally friendly energy:

A total of up to NOK 230 million is available for environmentally friendly energy. You can apply for up to NOK 20 million per project.

For petroleum:

A total of up to NOK 107 million is available for petroleum. You can apply for up to NOK 20 million per project.

For maritime:

A total of up to NOK 135 million is available for maritime. You can apply for up to NOK 20 million per project.

For transport:

A total of up to NOK 55 million is available for transport. You can apply for up to NOK 10 million per project.

Article 25 of the EU Block Exemption Regulation describes in more detail which activities can be supported and which costs of these activities can be covered in whole or in part. Funding may cover direct and indirect project costs to the extent that they are costs related to industrial research or experimental development.

Read more about state aid.

You can apply for funding to cover up to 50 per cent of the costs of each of the companies in the project. The degree of support for the company's project costs within the framework of 50 per cent depends on the size of the company and the type of R&D activities.

Please note that we are not making full use of the room for manoeuvre in the state aid rules. In this way, we will be granted more innovation projects. The state aid rules allow a small company to be covered up to 70 percent for IF, and a medium-sized company up to 60 percent for the same. However, none of them can receive more than 50 per cent under this call, even though all the activities are industrial research.

• • Example 1: a small company with all the costs within the IF: The state aid rules indicate that public support can contribute 70 per cent of the costs, but the company can only cover 50 per cent through an innovation project in the business sector.
  • Example 2: a medium-sized company with all the costs within the EU category: The state aid rules indicate that state aid can cover 35 per cent of the costs, and that is what the company can be covered.
  • Example 3: a small company with half of the costs within the IF category and half within the EU: The state aid rules indicate that state aid can cover 57.5 per cent of the total costs, but we only cover up to 47.5 per cent of them.
  • Example 4: a medium-sized company with half of the costs within the IF and half within the EU: The state aid rules indicate that state aid can cover 47.5 per cent of the costs, but we only cover up to 42.5 per cent of the costs.

Since the Research Council only allocates up to 50 per cent to industrial research even though the company could have been covered by up to 70 per cent, you can apply for additional funding from other public schemes, such as Innovation Norway and SkatteFUNN.

The final amount and percentage of support will be determined in the grant letter.

This call constitutes an aid scheme that must be notified to the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) and has the reference: GBER XX/2026/R&D&I.

The aid under the scheme is awarded in accordance with Article 25 of the Block Exemption Regulation (Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014). In addition, the general conditions in Chapter I of the Regulation must be met.

See the Consolidated Block Exemption Regulation with amendments up to and including June 2023 (link opens in a new window). The scheme shall be practised in accordance with the EEA Agreement's state aid rules. Terms and concepts shall be interpreted in accordance with the corresponding terms and concepts in the aid rules. In the event of any conflict between the announcement and the state aid rules, the latter shall take precedence. For the same reason, the call for proposals may also be adjusted.

Aid may not be granted to undertakings that have not complied with the requirements for repayment following a previous decision by the ESA/EU Commission declaring the aid illegal and incompatible with the internal market. Nor may aid be granted to undertakings in difficulty within the meaning of EEA law.

The Research Council's conditions for funding can be found in our general terms and conditions for R&D projects on this information page.

The Research Council requires a high standard of research ethics in the projects we fund. You must therefore provide a brief description of how ethical issues will be handled, to show the panel that you have an appropriate plan for this.

The responsibility for ensuring that the research ethics standard is followed lies with the individual researcher and research organisation (cf. the Research Ethics Act). The panel's assessment and the Research Council's decision on the award do not entail any approval of research ethics.

For more information, see the Research Council's research ethics requirements website.

If your application is approved, you must be aware of the following:

• You cannot have started any of the activities in the project before you submit the application. If you intend to submit an application for other funding schemes (including SkatteFUNN) for the project, you can read more about the incentive effect and combination of policy instruments here.
• You must cover all costs that may arise from the time you submit the application until you receive the letter of allocation from us.
• The latest date for the start of the project will be four months after you are notified of the award. Projects that have not started by this time may lose the award.
• Funding from other public actors for the project or for activities included in the project may affect the scope of the Research Council's funding.
• If you receive state aid from us that is equivalent to EUR 100,000 or more, we will make it known in the Register for State Aid (link opens in a new window).
• The project manager and the Project Owner must have assessed and managed any issue of research security in the project. Research security refers to the risks related to undesirable transfer of knowledge and technology, malign influence on research and innovation or violations of research ethics or integrity, where knowledge and technology are used to undermine key societal values.
• The Research Council requires full and immediate open access for scientific articles, see Plan S - open access to publications.
• For all projects that handle data, the Project Owner must prepare a data management plan in connection with the revised application, where you will find more information about the requirements for data management plans in projects that receive funding from us.
• For medical and health studies involving humans, the Research Council sets special requirements and guidelines for prospective registration of studies and publication of results.