The European Commission opens this Thursday the call for proposals for the 2023 Innovation fund, with a record budget of 4 billion euros to support the adoption of innovative decarbonization technologies. The call is financed with revenues from the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS).
As detailed by Brussels in a statement, the Commission has increased the total funds available and has doubled the budget allocated to clean technology manufacturing projects compared to the previous call. €1.4 billion is available to strengthen industrial manufacturing capacity, technological leadership and supply chain resilience in Europe.
The calls include an item for general large, medium and small-scale decarbonization worth 2.4 billion euros available for projects with budgetary and fixed asset investment (Capex) requirements from 2.5 million euros; another for manufacturing with clean technologies worth 1.4 billion with a CAPEX of more than 2.5 million euros, with emphasis on the manufacturing of components for renewable energy, energy storage, heat pumps and hydrogen production and an ecto project pilot of 200 million euros for projects with a CAPEX greater than 2.5 million euros, with emphasis on deep decarbonization.
Project promoters have until April 9, 2024, at 5 p.m. (Central European Time), to submit their application through the EU Funding and Tendering Portal.
Pilot project for green hydrogen
This Thursday, the Innovation Fund also opened the first pilot auction within the framework of the European Hydrogen Bank, for 800 million euros in aid to green Hydrogen producers, in the form of a premium per kilogram generated.
The initiative seeks to “close the gap between the production price and the price that consumers are currently willing to pay, in a market where non-renewable hydrogen is even cheaper to produce,” recalled the European Commission, which plans a second auction . of around 2.2 billion euros next spring.
The auction is articulated through the Hydrogen Bank and is part of the European Commission’s strategy to “build a market for renewable hydrogen, stimulate investments in production capacity and bring production to scale.”
Interested parties can submit their offers until February 8, 2024 at 17:00 Brussels time through the EU tenders and financing portal and the result will be known from April 2024.
“It will help boost a European hydrogen market. In turn, this will help accelerate the EU’s clean energy transition, while maintaining our competitiveness and preserving Europe’s position as a leading global economic power,” declared in a statement the vice president of the European Commission for the Green Deal, Maros Sefcovic.
strategic resource
The Commission’s objective is to build a market that allows 10 million tons of green hydrogen to be produced in the EU in 2030 and the same amount to be imported.
Green hydrogen is that which is obtained from electricity of renewable origin through electrolysis and other forms of production of this energy vector such as pink hydrogen, obtained from electricity of nuclear origin, would not be included in the auction.
It has “a fundamental role to play in Europe’s future energy mix, in particular for the decarbonisation of heavy industry and some transport sectors, replacing fossil fuels”, noted the European Commission.
Offers must be based on a proposed price premium per kilogram of renewable hydrogen produced, up to a maximum limit of 4.5 euros/kg, among other requirements.
The Commission will deliver these bonuses to those who are best classified in the bidding, until the budget of 800 million euros is reached.
“Selected projects will receive the awarded subsidy in addition to the market income they generate from hydrogen sales, for a maximum of 10 years” and “once the projects have signed their subsidy agreements, they must begin producing.” Renewable hydrogen within a period of five years,” detailed the community Executive. Applicants will not be able to combine the European Commission bonus with other national aid schemes.
The Community Executive also offers Member States to adopt a “service auction” mechanism, which will allow capitals to finance projects that have bid in the auction, but that have not been selected to receive support from the fund due to budgetary limitations. and would reduce administrative burdens.
“Developing a strong hydrogen market in the EU will make us more competitive, offer new growth opportunities to the industry and provide quality jobs for European companies and citizens,” European Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra said in a statement. . .
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