MOOI built-environment innovation grant
Grants for consortia developing affordable ways to decarbonise existing buildings or integrate renewable energy systems across neighbourhoods and business areas.
Questa opportunità è attualmente disponibile in inglese.
Develop a combined renovation approach that makes building improvements easier, faster and cheaper, or an industry-wide solution for applying those improvements. Alternatively, develop an area energy system combining renewable electricity, heating or cooling production, distribution, delivery and storage, matched to future demand from buildings, businesses and electric transport. The innovation must contribute to an affordable, reliable, sustainable and safe environment and energy supply.
Funding covers industrial research—creating knowledge for new or substantially improved products, processes or services—and experimental development, which turns existing knowledge into improved solutions and tests them. Technical-improvement pilots may be included, but a project consisting entirely of a pilot belongs under DEI+. Equipment costs must account for depreciation and residual value; consumed materials and subcontracting can also qualify. The innovation must reach its first application in its intended building or area within five years after project start; large-scale rollout is not required by that point.
The 2026 terms cap grants at €4 million per project. Maximum rates for eligible costs are 60% for small companies, 50% for medium-sized companies and 40% for large companies. Research organisations can receive 80% for non-economic activities, such as independent research; contract research is generally economic and does not qualify for that 80% rate. Keep separate accounts for economic and non-economic work.
Other activities, such as developing business models, standards and project management, can support the innovation. Their combined grant is limited to 5% of total eligible project costs, €350,000 per project and €300,000 per undertaking. Company activities in this category are always economic and need a de-minimis declaration, showing capacity under the €300,000 state-aid limit over three years; linked companies count as one undertaking. For research organisations, only broad, non-exclusive and non-discriminatory dissemination of research results qualifies as a non-economic activity in this category.
Eligibility
- Your consortium needs at least three companies that are not linked within one group, with complementary knowledge and skills. Each participant works at its own cost and risk. Involve users, building owners and builders; outsourcing the whole project does not count as collaboration. Financial and substantive contributions must be balanced.
- Grant-seeking companies must have a permanent establishment or subsidiary in the Netherlands when the grant is paid. A mailbox is insufficient. A foreign company without this presence may contribute without receiving a grant, and its eligible costs may count as an in-kind contribution.
- Eligible project costs must total at least €2 million; research organisations may bear at most 50% of that total. Each funded participant must qualify for at least €25,000 in grant. An unpaid participant's contribution counts only if applying the relevant rate would also produce at least €25,000.
- Central government, provinces, municipalities and public bodies governed by the Dutch Joint Regulations Act may participate but cannot receive this grant. Water boards may receive it.
- The full company rates require effective collaboration: either at least one participating company is an SME and no company bears more than 70% of eligible costs, or research organisations bear at least 10% and may publish their own results. Otherwise company rates fall by 15 percentage points.
- Products, services or processes related to hydrogen or green gas are excluded from both innovation themes. Routine changes to existing products or processes do not qualify as research and development, even if they improve them.
- The project lasts at most four years. Secure the finance for your own contribution before submitting the full application. If using the fixed hourly cost method, you cannot finance this contribution solely with salary hours calculated at that rate. Substantiate technical feasibility and prospects in the Dutch market. Do not start work, incur costs or enter commitments before the full application; start within six months after the award.
- Companies normally must pass the EU financial-distress test, which includes insolvency conditions. Use RVO's decision tree and signed declaration. A company in difficulty may instead apply under de-minimis rules with sufficient remaining room, up to €300,000 over three years.
- If a research organisation participates, sign and submit a collaboration agreement before starting, covering costs, risks, results and intellectual-property rights. If starting before the award, RVO needs the signed agreement during assessment and no later than the award date. Plan to share project knowledge during delivery; commercially sensitive information need not be disclosed.
- Other economic activities require de-minimis room. The restrictions cover fisheries and aquaculture, primary agricultural production and the agricultural processing or marketing cases specified in the de-minimis regulation.
Disclose other public funding. Support from provinces, municipalities, water boards and Joint Regulations Act public bodies, as well as SDE++, Horizon 2020, EU-REACT and NOW, is not automatically deducted, but the aid ceiling still applies. Other central-government grants reduce MOOI support. Research organisations may finance their own contribution with local public funding, and with general central-government operating or investment contributions when their award terms permit the activities. Other central-government subsidies are deducted.
How to apply
- Stato
- chiuso
- Apre
- Chiude
- Restrizioni del bando
- Only after mandatory pre-registration and advice from the MOOI Advisory Committee; the 2026 stage is closed.
Applications are currently closed. The 2026 round required pre-registration from 17 March to 16 April, followed by advice from the MOOI Advisory Committee before the full application stage. One pre-registration led to one full application; the full stage ran from 2 June to 3 September. Use RVO's official mission page for subsequent application announcements.
For a full application, appoint one participant to submit through RVO's online application route. Each participant signs an authorisation; the lead applicant uses eHerkenning level 3 with RVO authorisation at level eH3. Submit a project plan, budget and financial-distress or de-minimis declarations. Set measurable, time-bound milestones and clear criteria for continuing or stopping work. Unpaid partners need a signed declaration on their own letterhead showing their contribution, activities and reason for participating without a grant.
This is a competitive tender: projects must meet minimum quality requirements and are funded in ranking order until the budget is exhausted. Projects lasting more than twelve months require annual progress reports; request final grant determination after completion through RVO's project administration page.