The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) are renewing the Project Development Assistance (PDA) program, which will cover new sectors for decarbonization: maritime, rail, road, and buildings.
The announcement was published on the European Commission's website.
The program will operate under the European Innovation Fund. Its goal is to strengthen technical and financial advisory support for innovative decarbonization projects that have not been selected through the Fund or are just preparing to apply.
What is the agreement about?
The EIB Advisory Department will assist in the development of up to 250 projects in the period from 2025 to 2028. The sectoral coverage will be wider than before and the application process will be significantly simplified.
As part of the Innovation Fund's initial PDA program, 62 innovative projects received advisory support. 16 of them have already received grants from the Innovation Fund, another 7 have received funding from national sources or other programs, and one has been identified as an EU project of common interest.
Who can get help
In addition to the sectors already covered by the Innovation Fund, new ones are being added, such as zero- and low-carbon mobility, including maritime, rail, road, and buildings. These were added following changes in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).
The EIB's advisory services will become more accessible, as projects will be able to receive project development assistance through direct requests in addition to the standard support mechanisms associated with Innovation Fund calls. This flexibility will allow for faster and more customized support for promising innovative projects in the field of clean technologies and industrial decarbonization.
Entrepreneurs will be able to contact the EIB advisory services directly.
What about financing
In parallel with the expansion of the program's scope, the European Commission has increased the relevant budget available for EIB advisory activities by almost 4 times – from €24 million to €90 million.
Earlier, EcoPolitic reported that the European Commission has allocated almost €1 billion for renewable hydrogen production projects.
