The fund supports:
- Low-carbon technologies and processes in the energy-intensive industry
- Products that replace carbon-intensive products
- CCU (CO2 capture and usage)
- CCS (CO2 capture and storage)
- Sustainable energy generation
- Sustainable energy storage technology
The Innovation Fund will have a total budget of around € 10 billion and will run from 2020 to 2030. The budget comes from the proceeds of the European Emissions Trading System (ETS), the largest carbon pricing system in the world. In this way, the proceeds are returned to industry to stimulate innovation.
Requirements
Companies can submit projects alone or in a consortium. It is important that at least an ETS-obliged company participates in the project. Up to 60% of the operational costs and the additional capital of the registered projects can be paid from the Innovation Fund.
The first call, with a size of € 1 billion, will focus on large projects. The criterion also applies that these must be ‘mature’ businesses. Later calls will also be open to smaller projects. The European Commission is currently working on further elaboration of the scheme. The details will be announced this summer.
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