Yesterday, 77 decarbonisation projects have signed their grant agreements following the announcement of the Innovation Fund 2023 Call (IF23) results in October 2024. The selected projects from 18 European countries are expected to enter into operation between 2025 and 2031. The funding comes from the revenues of the EU Emissions Trading System. The grants range from €1.4 million to €262 million for projects with the potential to reduce emissions by some 397.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent over their first ten years of operation.
In addition to the 77 projects that have finalised grant agreements today, the European Climate, Infrastructure, and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) has invited 6 projects from the reserve list to prepare their grant agreements. These 6 projects could contribute to an overall emissions reduction of 24.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
The 83 projects were selected for funding under IF23 call, which accepted proposals for large, medium and small-scale projects, as well as pilots. The call also had a cleantech manufacturing focus in line with the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA). The projects will seek to accelerate decarbonisation in the following hard-to-abate sectors: energy-intensive industries, renewable energy, energy storage, Industrial Carbon Management, net-zero mobility (including maritime and aviation) and buildings. By reducing emissions, these projects will contribute to Europe’s transition towards a net-zero economy while strengthening industrial competitiveness, reinforcing supply chain resilience, positioning the EU as a global leader in clean technology, and advancing breakthrough climate solutions.
Background
The Innovation Fund 2023 Call attracted 337 applications from 27 countries. Following the eligibility and admissibility checks, 283 project applications were evaluated by independent experts against five criteria: degree of innovation, potential for greenhouse gas avoidance, project maturity, scalability and cost efficiency. Of the 85 projects pre-selected to prepare for grant agreement in October 2024, 8 subsequently withdrew. This has made available sufficient funds to finance 6 further projects initially placed on a reserve list. These projects will now begin to prepare for grant agreement by summer 2025.
Additionally, all 149 projects that exceeded all the evaluation thresholds have been awarded the STEP Seal, the EU’s quality label that gives visibility to high-quality projects in clean, resource-efficient, deep and digital technologies, contributing to the objectives of the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP). This label aims to help public and private investors identify and support cutting-edge strategic technologies more efficiently.
With an estimated revenue of €40 billion (calculated based on a carbon price of €75 per tonne of CO2) from the EU Emissions Trading System between 2020 and 2030, the Innovation Fund seeks to drive investment in cutting-edge, low-carbon and net-zero technologies, supporting Europe’s transition to climate neutrality.
With a total budget of around €12 billion, the Innovation Fund supports over 200 innovative projects across the European Economic Area (EEA). CINEA is responsible for the Fund’s implementation. The Innovation Fund 2024 (IF24) calls for projects, on net-zero tech projects and battery manufacturing for electric vehicles, remain open for proposals until 24 April 2024.
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