EU will invest 1 billion euros in clean technology projects

The European Commission recently launched the first proposal under the Innovation Fund, which will provide 1 billion euros in funding for large-scale clean technology projects to help them overcome the risks of commercialization and large-scale demonstrations.

　　 Such support will help new technologies enter the market. For promising projects that are not yet ready for listing, a separate budget of 8 million euros will be allocated for project development assistance.

　　The Innovation Fund will fund breakthrough technologies in the fields of renewable energy, energy-intensive industries, energy storage, and carbon capture, use, and storage. It will pave the way for climate neutrality by creating local future jobs, and strengthen Europe’s global technological leadership, thereby promoting a green recovery.

　　 Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans (Frans Timmermans) said that the call for proposals came at the right time. The EU will invest 1 billion euros in promising, market-ready projects, such as clean hydrogen or other low-carbon solutions, for energy-intensive industries such as steel, cement and chemical. We will also support energy storage, grid solutions, and carbon capture and storage. These large-scale investments will help restart the EU economy and achieve a green recovery, thus leading us to achieve climate neutrality in 2050.

　　In 2020-2030, in addition to the unpaid income from the NER 300 program, the predecessor of the Innovation Fund, the Innovation Fund will allocate about 10 billion euros from the auction quota under the EU Emissions Trading System.

　　 The appeal is open to projects from all EU member states, Iceland and Norway in eligible industries. These funds can be used in cooperation with other public funding schemes, such as state aid or other EU funding schemes.

　　The project will be evaluated based on the project’s potential to avoid greenhouse gas emissions, innovation potential, financial and technological maturity, scale-up and cost-effectiveness potential. The deadline for submitting applications is October 29, 2020. The project can be applied through the EU funding and bidding portal, where there are more details about the entire procedure.

　　The innovation fund aims to provide companies and government authorities with appropriate financial incentives to encourage them to invest in the next generation of low-carbon technologies now and give EU companies the first-mover advantage to become a global technology leader.