In its largest allocation to date, the EU Innovation Fund is backing 85 breakthrough projects in 18 nations, marking a pivotal moment in Europe’s clean technology deployment.
The European Commission has announced its most ambitious clean technology investment, allocating €4.8 billion in grants to support 85 innovative net-zero European projects. The funding, awarded through the Innovation Fund’s 2023 call for proposals, marks a significant expansion of the European Union’s (EU) commitment to accelerating its transition to a climate-neutral future.
For the first time, the funding encompasses projects of various scales – from large installations to pilot initiatives – focusing on cleantech manufacturing. The latest round brings the Innovation Fund’s total support to €12 billion, representing a 70% increase in the number of supported projects since its inception in 2020.
The selected initiatives spread across 18 countries, including Norway, are expected to reduce emissions by approximately 476 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent during their first decade. All projects are scheduled to begin operations before 2030, targeting sectors that traditionally have proved difficult to decarbonise.
Maroš Šefčovič, executive vice president for European Green Deal, Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight, highlighted the significance of this investment: “In a pivotal stride towards Europe’s climate neutrality goals, the Innovation Fund has achieved another significant milestone. The unprecedented €4.8 billion in grants will support the largest selection of Innovation Fund projects.”
The funding addresses several key EU policy objectives, particularly for cleantech manufacturing. Selected projects will contribute to develop 3 GW of solar photovoltaic manufacturing capacity and 9.3 GW of electrolyser manufacturing capacity in the EU, strengthening the bloc’s clean energy infrastructure.
The initiative focuses primarily on maritime decarbonisation in the transport sector, supporting projects for building and retrofitting vessels to use renewable fuels and electricity. The selected projects will also produce 525 kilotonnes of renewable fuels annually for sustainable transport.
“The Fund is once again demonstrating how the EU ETS is a great tool in reducing emissions and funding the projects we need to build a climate-neutral and competitive Europe,” said Wopke Hoekstra, Commissioner for Climate Action and responsible for transport.
The industrial carbon management projects selected will contribute 13% toward the Net-Zero Industry Act’s target of storing at least 50 million tonnes of CO2 annually from hard-to-abate sources in energy-intensive industries. Additionally, the projects will deliver 61 kilotonnes of renewable fuel of non-biological origin (RFNBO) annually.
In a further development, the Commission has introduced the STEP Seal, a quality label awarded to 149 projects that meet the Innovation Fund’s evaluation criteria. The designation aims to facilitate access to additional public and private funding opportunities, even for projects not selected in this round.
The selection process involved rigorous evaluation by independent experts based on five criteria: greenhouse gas emission reduction potential, innovation degree, operational and technical maturity, replicability, and cost efficiency.
Successful applicants are expected to sign grant agreements with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency in the first quarter of 2025. The Commission has already announced plans to launch the next call for proposals in early December 2024.
The Innovation Fund, supported by EU Emissions Trading System revenues, is projected to generate approximately €40 billion between 2020 and 2030. This makes it one of the world’s most extensive funding programs for deploying innovative net-zero technologies, playing a crucial role in the European Green Deal Industrial Plan.
The latest funding round also included first-time recipients from Estonia and Slovakia, broadening the geographical reach of the Innovation Fund’s impact across the European Economic Area.
