EU Opens $1 Billion Fund for Clean Energy Projects

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The European Commission is accepting applications to receive a share of its new 1 billion-euro ($1.13 billion) Innovation Fund to support cutting edge clean technology projects across renewable energy, energy-intensive industries, energy storage, and carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS).

The first call will provide grant funding of 1 billion euro to large-scale projects for clean technologies "to help them overcome the risks linked to commercialisation and large-scale demonstration," the commission said. Projects will be evaluated according to their potential to avoid greenhouse gas emission, innovation potential, financial and technical maturity, and potential for scaling up and cost efficiency. The deadline for submission of applications is 29 October 2020. For promising projects which are not yet ready for market, a separate budget of 8 million euro ($9 million) is set aside for project development assistance.

Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal Frans Timmermans said: "This call for proposals comes at just the right time. The EU will invest €1 billion in promising, market-ready projects such as clean hydrogen or other low-carbon solutions for energy-intensive industries like steel, cement and chemicals. We will also support energy storage, grid solutions, and carbon capture and storage. These large-scale investments will help restart the EU economy and create a green recovery that leads us to climate neutrality in 2050."

Up to 2030, the Innovation Fund will allocate around 10 billion euro ($10.13 billion) from the auctioning of allowances under the EU Emissions Trading System, in addition to undisbursed revenues from the Innovation Fund's predecessor, the NER 300 programme. Industrial Info is tracking all of the leading large-scale demonstration projects across the renewables sector, the use of new green technologies for the production of steel and cement, carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects and the fledgling hydrogen sector. Most recently these include the green light for funding of up to $682 million for the largest proposed undersea carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, Northern Lights, the go-ahead for the construction of the HYBRIT pilot plant for fossil-free steel being developed by steelmaker SSAB (NASDAQ OMX:SSAB A) (Stockholm, Sweden) in Sweden, and Germany's recent pledge to spend 9 billion euro ($10.1 billion) to become the world's leading user and producer of green hydrogen. For additional information, see May 26, 2020, article--Oil & Gas Majors Invest in Massive CO2 Storage Project, June 10, article--Sweden's Fossil-Free Steel Production Takes Big Step and June 30 article--Germany Bets $10 Billion on Clean Hydrogen Strategy.

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