Commission awards 27 grants under the Innovation Fund

In December 2021, 27 projects selected for a grant under the first Innovation Fund call for small-scale projects signed their grant agreement with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), the implementing body of the Fund. This brings the total number of projects supported under this call to 30. Together, these 30 projects, aiming to bring low-carbon technologies to the market in energy-intensive industries, hydrogen, energy storage and renewable energy, will benefit from a total grant of €109 million. 

Director General for DG Climate Action, Mauro Petriccione said: “Today’s signature concludes the selection process under the first call for small-scale projects and opens a new exciting chapter, which is made possible thanks to the Innovation Fund’s support: project implementation. These projects will have concrete impact on the ground by reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Europe’s energy and industrial sectors, paving our way to climate neutrality in 2050 and reinforcing European technological leadership on a global scale”.

Director of CINEA, Dirk Beckers said: ”Today marks another important milestone for the Innovation Fund. The 27 remaining projects under the first small-scale call have successfully signed their grant agreements with CINEA and now I am very proud to announce that we are moving to the implementation phase. These projects will support on the delivering of the EU Green Deal by a significant reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions with their highly innovative clean technologies and therefore contributing to the EU’s objective to achieve climate neutrality”.

The projects will focus on the decarbonisation of energy-intensive industries, specifically in the sectors of iron and steel, hydrogen, biofuels and biorefineries, pulp and paper, refineries, non-ferrous metals, glass, ceramics and construction material, and the decarbonisation of the energy sector, through innovative production and use of renewable energy or storage solutions. They are located in 13 Member States and they all have a total capital expenditure below EUR 7.5 million (small-scale projects).

The next call dedicated to small-scale projects will open on 31 March 2022. On 26 October, the Commission launched the second call for large-scale projects under the Fund with a budget of €1.5 billion to finance breakthrough technologies for renewable energy, energy-intensive industries, energy storage, and carbon capture, use and storage. The call is open until 3 March 2022.

Map of successful small-scale projects

Background

Funded by revenues from the auction of emission allowances from the EU’s Emissions Trading System, the Innovation Fund aims to create the right financial incentives for companies and public authorities to invest now in the next generation of low-carbon technologies and give EU companies a first-mover advantage to become global technology leaders.

The Innovation Fund is implemented by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), while the European Investment Bank provides project development assistance to promising projects that are not ready for full application.

More Information

Original post: https://ec.europa.eu/clima/news-your-voice/news/commission-awards-27-grants-under-innovation-fund-2021-12-10_en