Commission invests €2.9 billion from the Innovation Fund to boost net-zero technology projects

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

Today, the European Commission announced a total of €2.9 billion in funding to 61 cutting-edge net zero technology projects. The funding comes  from the Innovation Fund,using revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). These grants follow a first call for net-zero technologies (IF24 Call), launched in December 2024, aiming to strengthen Europe’s technological leadership and speed up the deployment of innovative decarbonisation solutions.

The selected projects span 19 industrial sectors, 18 countries and different scales, reflecting the EU’s ambition to decarbonise through a wide range of technologies and applications. The focus is on energy-intensive industries, renewable energy and energy storage, net-zero mobility and buildings, cleantech manufacturing and industrial carbon management.

The 61 projects have the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, cutting some 221 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent over their first decade of operation. This is comparable to the annual emissions of 9.9 million average European cars^[1]. This reduction will directly support the EU’s objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

Next steps

The developers of the 61 successful projects have been invited to start the grant agreement preparation phase with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). During this phase, the Commission and the selected project promoters will finalise the funding contract — confirming the budget, timetable, technical deliverables and legal responsibilities. The results of this process will be confirmed in the first half of 2026.

Background

Using estimated revenues of €40 billion from the EU ETS, the Innovation Fund aims to drive investment in cutting-edge, low-carbon and net-zero technologies to support Europe’s transition to climate neutrality.

The call attracted 359 applications, requesting a total of €21.7 billion in support — over nine times the available budget of €2.4 billion. This overwhelming response confirms both the maturity of Europe’s net-zero technology sector and the strong commitment to decarbonise, in alignment with the Clean Industrial Deal. These results bring the Innovation Fund portfolio to over 270 projects, with €15.6 billion committed.

All awarded projects were selected through an evaluation by independent experts against the following criteria: their potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, degree of innovation, project maturity, replicability, and cost efficiency.

Also in 2024, the Commission organised the first dedicated call for electric vehicle battery cell manufacturing projects, along with its second renewable hydrogen auction under the European Hydrogen Bank under the Innovation Fund. Grant agreements for both the call and auction are expected to be signed before the end of this year.