RCN Innovation Projects for the Industrial Sector (IPN)

RCN Innovation Project: Energy and Transport

Funds Norwegian energy and transport companies through RCN Innovation Projects to run development programmes with industry partnerships.

The RCN Innovation Project for Energy and Transport 2026 is the Research Council of Norway's industry-led R&D grant for Norwegian companies operating in the energy and transport sectors. It consolidates funding that historically flowed through three separate RCN programmes — ENERGIX (energy technology), DEMO2000 (petroleum and CCS demonstration), and PETROMAKS2 (petroleum research) — into a single sectoral sub-call within the IPN portfolio, open on a rolling basis throughout 2026.

Eligibility requires a Norwegian-registered company to lead the consortium as project owner, with at least one approved Norwegian research organisation participating as a formal partner. The programme covers a broad technology scope: renewable energy systems, offshore energy production, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, low-emission transport, and related industrial R&D. It has historically attracted co-funding from Gassnova for CCS/CLIMIT components and from Enova through the Pilot-E demonstration scheme; applicants working in those areas should check whether a parallel or complementary Gassnova or Enova call is open simultaneously. Per-project award amounts and match-funding rates are not published on the call index and must be retrieved from the full call documentation at RCN's My Research Space portal.

Strong applications in this sub-call articulate a specific energy or transport challenge that Norwegian industry faces, name the research organisation partner and explain its role, and show a credible pathway from R&D results to industrial deployment. Given the programme's heritage in ENERGIX and PETROMAKS2, evaluators expect applicants to position their work relative to Norway's established energy sector competences and national climate commitments.