The European Commission has announced funding opportunities consisting of EUR 3.4 billion ($3.58 billion) for decarbonization technologies and EUR 1.2 billion ($1.26 billion) for the second European Hydrogen Bank auction, a total of EUR 4.6 billion ($4.84 billion) from the European Union Innovation Fund.
A general call for net-zero technologies (IF24) is providing EUR 2.4 billion for “projects of different scale, as well as projects focusing on the manufacturing of components for renewable energy, energy storage, heat pumps and hydrogen production”, the Commission said in a statement.
An additional EUR 1 billion IF24 call specifically caters to EV battery cell manufacturing projects. IF24 Battery supports “projects that can produce innovative electric vehicles battery cells or deploy innovative manufacturing techniques, processes and technologies”, said the statement on the Commission’s website.
Concurrently the Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced a partnership for a EUR 200 million loan guarantee from the Innovation Fund for InvestEU battery manufacturing funding.
The guarantee will help companies “address financing challenges by enabling additional EIB venture debt operations over the next three years”, a joint press release said.
“Support will be directed to a wide range of battery technologies, such as developing advanced materials, components manufacturing, or innovative recycling techniques”, the Commission and the EIB said. “Funding prioritizes technological innovations beyond basic cell or pack assembly and excludes mining and extraction activities”.
Project owners have until April 24, 2025, to apply for the general and battery IF24 calls.
The remaining EUR 1.2 billion from the EUR 4.6 billion announcement is for the second bidding round of an EU funding program to scale up hydrogen production.
“With a budget increased by €400 million compared to the first IF23 Auction, the new IF24 Auction will support projects for renewable hydrogen production regardless of the sector in which it will be consumed, with a dedicated budget of €1 billion; as well as hydrogen production in projects with off-takers in the maritime sector, with a dedicated budget of €200 million”, the Commission said.
On top of the regional allotment for the auction, an estimated EUR 700 million have been put forward by Austria, Lithuania and Spain to fund renewable hydrogen production projects that would not be selected under the second European Hydrogen Bank auction.
The three countries will avail of the “auctions-as-a-service” mechanism of the European Hydrogen Bank. Auction as a service allows countries to pick projects that participated in the auction but did not win EU funding. This mechanism allows member-states to have a competitive selection of projects to fund using their internal budgets without holding a separate auction.
Spain is offering between EUR 280 million and EUR 400 million, using funds from its Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP). “The total support available will depend on the amount of funds used in the country’ existing State aid scheme for hydrogen clusters and valleys, which is also funded from RRP resources”, said a joint statement by the trio and the Commission November 18. Spain will confirm the final amount of support by spring 2025.
Austria has pledged EUR 400 million using its national budget. Producers selected by Austria will be eligible for a maximum grant of EUR 200 million per project. To qualify, each project must have a maximum capacity of 300 megawatts.
Lithuania has allocated EUR 36 million using its portion from the EU Modernization Fund. “The country’s participation in the Auctions-as-a-Service scheme will help reach its national target of 1.3 gigawatts of electrolysis capacity and 129 kilotonnes of renewable hydrogen production annually by 2030”, said the online statement.
Prospective bidders have until February 20, 2025, to apply.
“By investing more than €4.5 billion in clean technologies at the very beginning of the mandate, the Commission is showing its commitment to deliver on its decarbonization objectives, and to support European industries’ competitiveness in key strategic sectors”, said Teresa Ribera, executive vice president for clean, just and competitive transition at the Commission.
President Ursula von der Leyen began a second mandate with a new team of commissioners on December 1.
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