Record amount of net zero support: the Innovation Fund opened a budget of EUR 4 billion

Applications can be submitted until 9 April 2024 for the call with a record-breaking EUR 4 billion budget published by the European Commission under the Innovation Fund.

Projects related to net-zero technologies are welcome in the following three topics: general and deep decarbonization, as well as the expansion of production capacity related to renewable energy production.

1. General decarbonisation projects can apply in three categories based on project size :

• large-scale projects: EUR 1.7 billion available for projects with costs over EUR 100 million,

• medium-scale projects: EUR 500 million available for projects with costs of EUR 20-100 million,

• small-scale projects: EUR 200 million available for projects with costs of EUR 2,5-20 million.

2. In case of deep decarbonization, it is possible to submit pilot projects with a cost of at least EUR 2.5 million for a EUR 200 million budget.

3. In addition, EUR 1.4 billion is available to support projects related to the production of clean technologies (production and storage of renewable energy, heat pumps, hydrogen production) with a cost exceeding EUR 2.5 million.

After more than a hundred projects previously supported by the Fund, many additional projects may be eligible for CAPEX support of 60%, if their potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and their level of innovation are adequate, are replicable and sufficiently mature, and represent cost efficiency.

The range of beneficiaries is wide, including energy-intensive and renewable industries, as well as energy storage, transport or the construction sector.

Projects can be submitted until April 2024. The winners will be notified in Q4 2024, and the grant agreements may be signed in Q1 2025.

An important condition is, however, that projects may start prior to signing the grant agreement in only exceptionally justified cases, and developments started before the submission of the application cannot be supported at all.

Promising projects that are not supported may benefit from the development assistance of the European Investment Bank. 

The preparation of projects is a long and complex process, so if you have a planned development that falls into the above categories, we recommend assessing the potential and starting the preparations as soon as possible - we are happy to support your company in this with the help of our professional experience available in the PwC international network for many years.

If you have any questions regarding the above – or regarding any other form of subsidies – please don’t hesitate to contact one of our expert colleagues below, or your usual PwC contact.

Barbara Koncz
Partner
Email: barbara.koncz@pwc.com

Andrea Végső
Senior manager
Email: andrea.vegso@pwc.com

Boldizsár Cseh
Manager
Email: boldizsar.cseh@pwc.com