BRUSSELS, Belgium / EuroWire.IO / – Seventy-seven clean technology projects across Europe will share €3.4 billion from the EU’s Innovation Fund. The European Commission announced the selection on Monday, October 19, under the fund’s call for net-zero technologies. The grants are financed by revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System. The projects are located in 23 countries of the European Economic Area. They range from industrial plants to small pilots.
According to Commission estimates, the projects could prevent around 290 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in their first decade of operation. The figure works out at about one tonne per second over 10 years. The Commission said the investments will strengthen Europe’s industrial competitiveness in clean technology. They are also expected to support the bloc’s energy independence and security. The projects contribute to the EU’s target of climate neutrality by 2050.
Wopke Hoekstra, the Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth, said European innovators are turning climate ambition into industrial leadership. He said putting emissions trading revenues back into clean technology helps firms reach the market and cut emissions. Competition for the money was intense. The call, opened in December 2025, attracted 358 applications seeking €17.5 billion. The available budget was €2.9 billion. Every one of the call’s five topics was oversubscribed.
Nuclear and direct air capture join portfolio
The selection includes the Innovation Fund’s first small modular reactor project, part of growing EU interest in nuclear power. It also includes the first direct air carbon capture and storage project to receive support. Six projects deal with the processing and recycling of critical raw materials. These include work on rare earth permanent magnets and batteries. The projects are linked to the Net-Zero Industry Act and the RESourceEU Action Plan.
Other projects cover energy-intensive industries, renewable energy, energy storage, net-zero mobility, advanced alternative fuels and industrial carbon management. By topic, 12 large-scale projects requested about €1.58 billion. Twelve clean-tech manufacturing projects sought nearly €895 million. Seventeen medium-scale projects asked for around €458 million. Twenty small-scale projects requested about €124 million, while 16 pilots sought about €394 million. The large-scale topic took the biggest share of the requested funding.
Quality seal for projects without funding
A further 84 proposals met the evaluation criteria but did not receive grants because of budget limits. They will receive the STEP Seal together with the 77 winning projects. The label is designed to help them secure funding from other sources. Another 160 proposals can apply for project development assistance from the European Investment Bank. The Innovation Fund portfolio now includes around 320 projects with almost €17 billion committed.
Project promoters are preparing grant agreements with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency. The Commission plans to announce the outcome in the first quarter of 2027. New Innovation Fund calls are expected to open in early December 2026. They will include a €1 billion topic for clean-tech manufacturing. The fund draws on an estimated €40 billion in carbon market revenues for 2020 to 2030. Independent experts assessed each bid on its emissions cuts, innovation, maturity and cost efficiency.