EU Innovation Fund

The EU Innovation Fund is the European Union’s programme for demonstrating innovative climate-friendly technologies. Its official name is the Innovation Fund. The European Commission manages it directly, with operational delivery by the CINEA agency. The legal basis is Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/856, in force since 17 June 2019. What you receive is a non-repayable grant. At present no call is open.

Unlike most funding programmes, the EU Innovation Fund does not finance the research but the demonstration and market introduction. What is funded are projects that show a technology at scale: energy-intensive industry, renewable energy, energy storage, hydrogen, the capture and use of CO₂, and zero-emission mobility and buildings.

What stands out is the level of funding: the fund covers up to 60% of the relevant costs. That makes projects financeable which would otherwise never get off the ground because of their technical and financial risk. That is exactly what the EU Innovation Fund was made for — large, capital-intensive climate projects.

Legal entities can apply, both public and private. What is decisive is the location of your project: it must lie in a country the call permits. For the regular calls those are the EU member states plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

There is no classification by company size. The EU Innovation Fund does not distinguish between small and large companies but looks at project scale and technology field. A young company applies through the same procedure as a corporation, only in a different project category.

Which countries and project categories apply to you is set out in the call notice on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Check these two points first, because above all they determine whether you can apply.

What is funded is the demonstration of innovative technologies that reduce greenhouse gases. This covers energy-intensive industries, renewable energy, energy storage, the capture, use and storage of CO₂, hydrogen, and zero-emission mobility and buildings.

Eligible are the project costs as defined by the relevant call’s cost methodology. These include the costs of demonstration and implementation, the costs of pilot projects and the costs of projects for producing clean technologies. The calls distinguish large, medium and small projects, and each category has its own conditions.

Your project must be worked out. The plan, business model and the financial and legal structure have to be in place. An idea alone is not enough — what is asked for is a project that can be built.

You receive a non-repayable grant of up to 60% of your project’s relevant costs. This rate applies across the whole programme area, regardless of country and company size.

Besides the grant, other forms are possible, such as prizes or procurement. The call determines which form is used.

Your funding level follows from two figures: your relevant costs and the maximum per project. In call IF25 for net-zero technologies that maximum was €40 million per project. That amount belongs to that call and may differ in the next one.