Deadline: 16-Mar-23
The European Commission (EC) is pleased to announce an open call for the Innovation Fund Large-Scale Projects for the Mid-Sized Pilots.
The objective of this topic is to support highly innovative, disruptive or breakthrough technologies in deep decarbonisation needed for achieving the climate neutrality goal and strengthening synergies with the Horizon Europe programme.
Funding Information
- The available call budget is EUR 3 000 000 000 for grants and EUR 6 000 000 for project development assistance (PDA) support.
- Mid-Sized Pilots: EUR 300 000 000
- 3 years after entry into operation
Activities that can be Funded
- The following activities can be funded under this topic:
- Construction and operation of pilot projects that focus on validating, testing and optimising highly innovative, deep decarbonisation solutions in sectors eligible for Innovation Fund support. Pilot projects can thus concern: industrial sectors including environmentally safe carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) that contributes substantially to mitigating climate change, as well as products substituting carbon-intensive ones produced in sectors or construction and operation of innovative energy or CO2 storage solutions or construction and operation renewable energy installations (in photovoltaics, concentrated solar power, onshore and offshore wind power, ocean energy, geothermal, solar thermal, and others), including innovative systems aspects such as connection to the electricity/heat grid.
- The maximum amount of Innovation Fund grant for an individual project under this topic is limited to EUR 40 million.
- In this topic, a higher degree of innovation is expected than in the other topics. Consequently, the activities that can be funded are those that tackle technical risks linked to the innovative technologies and solutions, e.g. optimising process and operational parameters of the innovation, and/or improving the characteristics of the final products produced. Pilot projects should prove an innovative, deep decarbonisation or net carbon removal technology or solution in an operational environment, but are not expected yet to reach large scale demonstration or commercial production. Nevertheless, the project can entail limited production/operation for testing purposes, including delivery to/from potential customers for validation.
- Deep decarbonisation technology means technology that has the potential to be fully compatible with a 2050 climate neutrality objective. The pilot installation itself should have a very low level of residual emissions or result in net carbon removals. See more details in the minimum requirements under the GHG emission avoidance criterion.
Geographic Location
Proposals must relate to activities taking place in EU Member States, Norway or Iceland. Projects may also be located in Northern Ireland on the condition that the project concerns the generation, transmission, distribution or supply of electricity.
Eligibility Criteria
- In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
- be established in one of the eligible countries: any country in the world.
- Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register before submitting the proposal.
- Specific cases:
- Natural persons: Natural persons are NOT eligible (with the exception of selfemployed persons, i.e. sole traders, where the company does not have legal personality separate from that of the natural person).
- International organisations: International organisations are eligible. The rules on eligible countries do not apply to them.
- Entities without legal personality: Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees for the protection of the EU financial interests equivalent to that offered by legal persons.
- Projects must comply with EU policy interests and priorities (such as environment, social, security, industrial and trade policy, etc).
- Only projects with a total capital expenditure above EUR 7 500 000 will be eligible under this call. The grant awarded may be lower than the amount requested.
- Project duration normally ranges between 3 and 15 years, from grant signature to the final payment.
- The project must reach financial close within four years after grant signature.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3hfCRuY
