For the first time since the creation of the Innovation Fund, the European Union is investing 118 million euro in 32 small innovative projects in 14 EU member states, as well as in Iceland and Norway, the European Commission announced on Tuesday.

The grants will support projects aimed at bringing low-carbon technologies to market in the energy-intensive, hydrogen, energy storage and renewable energy industries. In addition to these grants, 15 projects located in 10 EU Member States and Norway will receive assistance for the development of projects worth up to 4.4 million euro, aimed at promoting their maturity.

“Through these investments, the EU is providing concrete support to clean technology projects across Europe to widely apply technology solutions that can help achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The increase in the Innovation Fund proposed in the” Prepare for 55 “package will it allows the EU to support more projects in the future, accelerate them and bring them to market as soon as possible,” said Executive Vice President Timmermans, according to Agerpres.

The 32 projects selected for funding were evaluated by independent experts in terms of their ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional technologies and to innovate beyond the current state of technology, while at the same time , mature enough to allow their rapid implementation.

Other criteria include the scalability and profitability potential of projects. The selected projects cover a wide range of sectors relevant to the decarbonisation of the various parts of industry and the energy sectors in Europe. The success rate of the eligible proposals for this call for proposals is 18%.

The 15 projects that can benefit from project development assistance were assessed as sufficiently innovative and promising in their ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but not yet mature enough to be considered. for the award of a grant. The support, to be provided in the form of personalized technical assistance by the European Investment Bank, aims to promote their financial or technical maturity, with a view to possible re-submission in future calls for proposals related to the Innovation Fund.