The commission is opening the call today Innovation fund to submit proposals for 2023 with a record budget EUR 4 billion to support the introduction of innovative decarbonization technologies. The call is funded by revenue from the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), which underlines the importance of carbon pricing for the green transition. Compared to the previous call, the Commission increased the total available funds and doubled the budget allocated to clean technology production projects. €1.4 billion is available to strengthen industrial manufacturing capacity, technological leadership and supply chain resilience in Europe.

Project promoters can apply for grants under five themes with different budget and capital expenditure (CAPEX) requirements:

• General decarbonisation (large scale) – EUR 1.7 billion is available for projects with CAPEX above EUR 100 million
• General decarbonization (moderate) – EUR 500 million is available for projects with CAPEX from EUR 20 million to EUR 100 million
• General decarbonization (on a small scale) – EUR 200 million is available for projects with CAPEX between EUR 2.5 million and EUR 20 million
• Production of clean technologies – EUR 1.4 billion is available for projects with CAPEX above EUR 2.5 million, focusing on the production of components for renewable energy, energy storage, heat pumps and hydrogen production
• Pilot project – EUR 200 million is available for projects with a CAPEX above EUR 2.5 million focusing on deep decarbonisation.