The European Union’s Innovation Fund will finance the implementation of 54 projects in the field of clean industrial innovation. In total, the European Commission is allocating €2.7 billion from revenues generated under the Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) to implement eco-modernization projects in 17 EU member states.
The European Commission reported that it has already signed grant agreements with the winners of the competition held in 2024. This stage is the final one before the actual implementation of low-carbon initiatives.
Project funding ranges from €1.8 million to €216 million, depending on scale and complexity. Overall, the new portfolio of decarbonization projects includes initiatives from 17 industrial sectors. Specifically, the Innovation Fund will finance solutions in the following sectors:
- oil refining industry,
- cement and lime industry,
- renewable energy – wind and solar,
- transport sector – shipping, aviation, automotive transport.
The European Commission expects the cumulative decarbonisation effect following the implementation of these projects to prevent approximately 210 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions within the first ten years.
Reserve projects
Another six projects from the Innovation Fund's 2024 reserve list may receive from €17 million to €255 million – a total of €491 million. They have been invited to the grant agreement preparation stage.
These initiatives come from six EU member states and cover such sectors as manufacturing of clean energy components, lithium processing for electric vehicle batteries, and the chemical and glass industries. Their total decarbonisation effect could amount to 20 million tonnes of CO2 over ten years.
The European Commission notes that the EU Innovation Fund is one of the world’s largest programmes supporting zero-emission innovative technologies. Its budget for 2020–2030 stands at €40 billion, fully funded by the EU ETS. The Fund has already allocated €15 billion to finance 250 environmental projects.
Recall that the EU’s ETS system has become a topic of political debate. A number of Union member states have called for a review or temporary suspension of the carbon market.
EkoPolitic reported that the EU authorities announced certain concessions in emissions trading, promising in particular to review free carbon quotas.
