EU Innovation Fund
The EU Innovation Fund supports large-scale demonstration projects of low-carbon technologies and processes in Europe with grants of up to 60% of the additional costs. Regular calls for large-scale and small-scale projects are announced via the EU Funding & Tender Portal.
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Grant criteria
Funding objective
The Innovation Fund is a financing instrument designed to fulfill the EU's commitments under the Paris Agreement and the goal of creating a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. It supports highly innovative technologies and large flagship projects with European added value that lead to significant emission reductions, covering all member states as well as sectors such as energy-intensive industries, renewable energies, energy storage, CCS, and CCU.
Eligible expenses
- Additional capital costs
- Additional operating costs
Eligible to apply
- Companies
Funding requirements
- Effectiveness in reducing greenhouse gas emissions
- Degree of innovation
- Project maturity (technical, financial, operational)
- Scalability
- Cost efficiency
Evaluation criteria
- Effectiveness of greenhouse gas emission reduction
- Degree of innovation
- Project maturity (technical, financial, operational)
- Scalability
- Cost efficiency
Description
The EU Innovation Fund supports companies of all sizes across Europe in the realization of large-scale demonstration projects to bring low-carbon technologies and processes to market maturity. The focus is on energy-intensive industries, Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) as well as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), innovative renewable energy generation, and energy storage. With a total budget estimated at EUR 38 billion (2020–2030), financed through the EU Emissions Trading System, the fund promotes highly innovative flagship projects that make a significant contribution to the climate goals of the Paris Agreement and aim to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050. Due to its grant-based nature, the fund offers project leaders an attractive opportunity to test new technologies at an industrial scale and scale them up, while all EU Member States can benefit equally.
Up to 60% of the additional capital and operational costs are funded, with separate calls for large-scale projects in autumn and small-scale projects (< EUR 7.5 million total budget) in spring. Prerequisites for funding include the effectiveness of greenhouse gas reduction, the degree of innovation, technical and financial maturity, scalability, and cost-efficiency of each project proposal. Applications submitted via the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) are evaluated based on these criteria and paid out milestone-based. The EU Innovation Fund thus creates a forward-looking framework to bring low-carbon solutions beyond pilot and demonstration stages to market and to set a Europe-wide transformation impulse.
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