Innovation Fund

The Innovation Fund is open for proposals! Large-scale (demonstration) projects of CO2-reducing / low-carbon technologies are eligible for support by the Innovation Fund. Both individual organisations as well as consortia can submit an application. The deadline of the first call is on October 29, 2020 and has a budget of € 1 billion.

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Applying for the Innovation Fund

The Innovation Fund is available to individual organisation and (multinational) consortia that focus on projects in the field of:

• Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS)
• Low-carbon technologies /processes in energy intensive industries
• Renewable energy generation
• Energy storage

Your project:

• Shows effectiveness of GHG emissions avoidance
• Shows a high degree of innovation
• Is considered mature enough
• Is assessed on scalability (market potential in 2050)
• Is assessed on cost efficiency (based on calculations of capital and operational expenditures and requested grant in relation to promised GHG emissions avoidance).

Projects that have submitted a full application are eligible for the grant. Projects that meet the first two criteria (abate GHG emissions and show a high degree of innovation) but are not considered mature enough may receive project development assistance (PDA). Furthermore, applications can be submitted by a single entity as well as multi-national consortia.

First Innovation Fund call open for applications

The first call is now open for applications. The deadline is on October 29, 2020. This first Innovation Fund call has a budget of € 1 billion. The fund is available for projects with an investment size of up to € 7.5 million, however, in this first call, only projects with an investment size bigger than € 7.5 million are eligible.

Competition is expected to be very high, so it is advisable to ensure your project is aligned in advance of the call text publication. Hezelburcht can offer support in readying your project and support with the development, profiling and submission of the application in time for the anticipated deadline.

Disbursement of the fund

• Through the Innovation Fund, up to 60% of the additional capital and operational costs of a project will be supported
• Disbursement of the grant may be flexible based on jointly set milestones
• Up to 40% of the total grant can be given upfront during the project preparations based on pre-defined milestones.

In case the project does not meet its project deliverables INEA reserves the right to withdraw the grant funding.

Interested in the Innovation Fund?

About the Innovation Fund

The Fund’s purpose is to support the EC’s vision of a climate neutral Europe by 2050 by bringing the most successful and innovative technologies to the market. With a potential budget of over € 1 billion, the Fund offers financial support in abating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, making the world cleaner and more sustainable.

Core value: Emission avoidance within projects

The emissions avoidance calculations will likely be compared to reference scenarios either based on the benchmarks within the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) or from similar projects. Projects must ensure that they deliver at least 75% of the emissions avoidance calculated in order to receive the full grant amount.

Budget of the Innovation Fund

Revenues for the fund will be provided via the European Union’s (EU) emissions Trading System (EU ETS) by auctioning of 450 million allowances from 2020 to 2030, as well as any unspent funds from the NER300 programme. The total budget for the Fund may exceed € 10 billion over ten years; however, this depending on the carbon price. The ideal situation would see an increase in the carbon price to ensure a higher yield for the Fund.

Source: EC Europe 2020

More information or interested in applying?

Would you like to know more about the Innovation Fund for your organisation? Please do not hesitate to contact one of our European Affairs Managers for more information!

Contact us to learn more about the Innovation Fund
Or call us: 088 495 20 00