European Commission’s Innovation Fund Opens for Large-Scale Projects
The second large call under the Innovation Fund will support large-scale projects of over €7.5 million of value that will contribute to the transition to a climate-neutral economy.
The Innovation Fund is an EU funding instrument designed to unlock low-carbon investments in all Member States to help contribute to a climate neutral Europe by 2050. The fund is not a research programme; instead it is designed to bring highly innovative low-carbon technologies and big flagship projects in all Member States to the market.
The second call for large-scale projects has now launched under the Innovation Fund to support projects of over €7.5 million in value that will contribute to the transition to a climate-neutral economy. The call supports projects demonstrating highly innovative technologies, processes or products, that are sufficiently mature and have a significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Support will be tailored to market needs and the risk profiles of eligible projects, while attracting additional public and private resources.
The following activities can be funded under this call:
- Activities that support innovation in low-carbon technologies and processes in sectors listed in Annex I to the EU ETS Directive, including environmentally safe carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) that contributes substantially to mitigating climate change, as well as products substituting carbon intensive ones produced in sectors listed in Annex I to the EU ETS Directive.
- Activities that help stimulate the construction and operation of projects that aim at the environmentally safe capture and geological storage of CO2 (CCS).
- Activities that help stimulate the construction and operation of innovative renewable energy and energy storage technologies.
Projects are expected to contribute to the transition to a climate-neutral economy by 2050 the target to reduce emissions by at least 55% by 2030 within the overall framework of the European Green Deal.
The funds set aside for this call are €1.5 billion for the grants and €2 million for the project development assistance (PDA). The grants will be provided as lump sums. Only projects above €7.5 million of capital expenditure (large-scale projects) are eligible. The projects must reach financial close within 48 month of the date of the grant.
Only actions implemented on the territory of one (or more) of the EU Member States, Norway or Iceland are eligible for funding under this call. Applicants must be legal persons and either private entities, public entities, or international organisations. They must also be directly responsible for the implementation and management of the project where relevant jointly with other applicants, ie not acting as an intermediary.
Applications may be submitted by individual organisations or a consortium of legal entities acting together. Affiliated entities that participate in the project with funding but do not become beneficiaries are allowed. Natural persons are not eligible and EU bodies cannot be part of the consortium.
The deadline for applications is 3 March 2022 (17:00 Brussels Time).
(This report was the subject of a ResearchConnect Newsflash.)