Innovation Fund

The Innovation Fund offers €4B to fund different net-zero projects.

Projects of different scales are funded within five topics:

-General decarbonisation (large-scale): €1.7 billion available for projects with CAPEX above €100 million.

-General decarbonisation (medium-scale): €500 million available for projects with CAPEX between €20 million and €100 million.

-General decarbonisation (small-scale): €200 million available for projects with CAPEX between €2.5 million and €20 million.

-Cleantech manufacturing: €1.4 billion available for projects with CAPEX above €2.5 million focusing on the manufacturing of components for renewable energy, energy storage, heat pumps and hydrogen production.

-Pilot: €200 million available for projects with CAPEX above €2.5 million focusing on deep decarbonisation.

Projects are evaluated according to their potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, degree of innovation, maturity, replicability and cost efficiency. The Innovation Fund can cover up to 60% of the project’s relevant costs.

Awarded projects will enter into operation before 2030 and they are expected to reduce emissions by about 476 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in the first 10 years of operation. This will help to meet European decarbonisation objectives, reduce emissions from those sectors that are particularly difficult to decarbonise, strengthen European industrial manufacturing capacity and reinforce Europe’s technology leadership and supply chain resilience.

More information about the Innovation Fund calls

Technological Focus: The fund targets highly innovative technologies and flagship projects that can bring significant emission reductions.

Geographical Scope: Projects must be carried out in EU member states, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, or in some cases, Northern Ireland

Application Documents: A well-prepared feasibility study and business plan (max 60 pages each) are crucial for the application

Knowledge Sharing: Projects are required to share knowledge to facilitate scaling up and accelerate deployment of proposed technologies

Funding Allocation: The Innovation Fund is expected to allocate approximately €38 billion until 2030

Recent Developments: The latest call (IF24) launched on December 3, 2024, with a total budget of €3.4 billion, including a new €1 billion call for electric vehicle battery cell manufacturing.

Project Maturity: Projects need to be sufficiently mature in terms of planning, business model, and financial structure