The European Commission has selected 85 innovative net-zero projects to receive €4.8 billion in grants from the Innovation Fund, helping to put cutting-edge clean technologies into action across Europe. For the first time, projects of different scales with a cleantech manufacturing focus are awarded, including many in the Blue Economy space.
The selected projects cover a wide range of sectors from the following categories: energy-intensive industries, renewable energy, energy storage, industrial carbon management, net-zero mobility (including maritime and aviation) and buildings. Some of the Blue Economy startups include several focused on offshore CO2 storage; several ocean energy companies with floating wind and solar technologies, as well as tidal and wave; several companies producing e-methane, biomethane, green hydrogen and methanol for shipping and other maritime and industrial transportation; ships that operate using electricity, sails or more sustainable fuels than fossil fuels; and a company that retrofits passenger vessels to run on e-methanol. The complete list is available here.
One recipient is Norwegian company Evoy, which produces electric engines for boats. Evoy has received €16 million which will support the establishment of its new headquarters and production facility in Florø, Norway.
“We are deeply honored and grateful to receive this grant in support of our mission to accelerate the transition to sustainable, emission-free boating,” said Leif Stavøstrand, CEO of Evoy. “This recognition reinforces our commitment to reducing maritime pollution through innovative electric propulsion systems and brings us one step closer to decarbonizing the industry. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all our partners and stakeholders who have supported us on this journey.”
The selected projects are set to enter into operation before 2030 and over their first ten years of operation are expected to reduce emissions by about 476 million tons of CO2 equivalent. This will contribute to European decarbonization objectives, reducing emissions from those sectors that are particularly difficult to decarbonize, strengthen European industrial manufacturing capacity and reinforce Europe’s technology leadership and supply chain resilience.
The EU ETS Innovation Fund is one of the world’s largest funding programs for the deployment of net-zero and innovative technologies. It is one of the key tools of the European Green Deal Industrial Plan. With an estimated revenue of €40 billion from the EU Emissions Trading System between 2020 and 2030, the Innovation Fund is designed to create financial incentives for companies and public authorities to invest in advanced net-zero and low-carbon technologies, supporting Europe’s transition to climate neutrality. So far, the Innovation Fund has awarded about €7.2 billion to more than 120 innovative projects across the European Economic Area (EEA) through previous calls for proposals
