Grants for cooperation networks supporting a resilient energy system

This call funds innovation clusters: organised networks connecting energy users, researchers, technology developers and other organisations. They should identify shared needs and solutions across energy and wider society, including dependencies between electricity, heat, fuels, gas and district cooling. The transition to fossil-free energy and greater electrification are starting points.

Clusters must explain how they strengthen the energy system from a total-defence perspective—Sweden’s combined civil and military preparedness, including heightened readiness and war. Climate adaptation and extreme-weather resilience are eligible themes within that purpose. Other examples include supply chains, continuity planning, infrastructure protection, training and reserve capacity. The cluster should consider experience from Ukraine, through participants or other learning.

The call has about SEK 15 million available and a maximum request of SEK 3 million per cluster. Ordinary cluster operations receive up to 50% of each project party’s eligible costs. Eligible staff and administration costs cover organising collaboration and specialised support services, attracting members, managing cluster equipment, and running training, seminars and conferences. This is support for the cluster’s activities, not a promise to finance all its members’ individual projects.

The SEK 3 million cap applies to the cluster as a whole, including any start-up support. New clusters without an established membership structure or secured external co-financing can request start-up support of up to SEK 500,000 and 100% of eligible costs. This phase must cover no more than the first 12 months and have separate timing and accounts in the implementation plan. It can fund building networks, recruiting partners and securing long-term co-financing. Afterwards, ordinary operations or investment fall under the 50% public-funding limit. Start-up aid goes to one recipient; any onward recipient must also submit a de minimis declaration.

For ordinary operations, finance the balance through your own recorded staff time, premises or equipment depreciation, your own cash, or another organisation’s cash contribution. Another organisation’s work or a non-party member’s travel and time cannot count as your co-financing. External co-financing must not originate from public funds; all public funding counts toward the 50% ceiling. A formal project party financing another party cannot itself receive agency funding in this call. A public organisation proposing to contribute must assess whether its payment constitutes state aid: public money giving a particular economic activity an advantage unavailable on market terms. The call identifies transactions without competitive procurement as creating such an advantage. This assessment does not remove the restriction on public money as external co-financing or the combined 50% public-funding ceiling. Report other public and EU funding sought, received or planned for the same costs.

Costs must be your own, reasonable, auditable and incurred during the approved period. Unpaid work and recoverable VAT do not qualify. Overheads are shared costs such as general administration, office supplies or IT systems that do not arise directly from the project. Actual overheads are normally capped at 30% of eligible salary costs. Universities and higher-education institutions use their full-cost method. A 45% ceiling on eligible salary costs applies to research organisations constituted as limited companies or partnerships under direct or indirect state legal control, research foundations with one or more government-appointed board members, and government agencies mandated to conduct their own research, excluding universities and higher-education institutions. To qualify, the organisation must receive funding by government decision for independent research and participate through its non-economic activity, such as independent research rather than commissioned research services. Only actual overheads qualify. Economic activity, including commissioned research, must be accounted for separately; project work within that activity uses the ordinary 30% ceiling. Project parties cannot subcontract each other. Related-company consultancy is limited to the supplier’s actual salary cost. You cover overruns.