EU Innovation Fund selects 77 net-zero technology projects
The EU selected 77 net-zero projects for €3.4 billion in proposed support; the agreements and project-specific terms are still being prepared.
Editorial desk
On 19 October 2026, the European Commission announced that 77 European net-zero technology projects had been selected for €3.4 billion in Innovation Fund support. The call opened in December 2025 and the projects are spread across 23 European Economic Area countries. Revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System are being reinvested to support decarbonisation, industrial competitiveness, energy independence and security.
The portfolio spans energy-intensive industries, renewables, innovative storage, clean-tech manufacturing, net-zero mobility, critical raw-material processing and recycling, alternative fuels and industrial carbon management. It includes the first selected small modular reactor and direct-air carbon capture and storage projects, plus six critical-raw-material projects linked to rare-earth magnets and batteries. Funding is therefore distributed across technologies and countries.
All five call topics were oversubscribed. The selections comprise 12 large-scale projects requesting about €1.58 billion, 17 medium-scale projects at €458 million, 20 small-scale projects at €124 million, 12 clean-tech manufacturing projects at almost €895 million, and 16 pilots at about €394 million. Manufacturing projects cover heat pumps, solar panels, electrolysers, EV batteries and a rare-earth magnet facility.
The Commission estimates that the 77 projects could avoid about 290 million tonnes of greenhouse-gas emissions in their first decade of operation. This is a forward-looking portfolio estimate, not a reduction already delivered or a supplier revenue forecast. Another 84 projects passed evaluation but did not receive this round’s budget, while 160 non-recipients remain eligible for European Investment Bank project-development assistance; these statuses are not equivalent.
Promoters of the selected projects have been invited to prepare grant agreements with CINEA. Budgets, timetables, technical and financial deliverables and legal responsibilities will be finalised during this phase, with results expected in the first quarter of 2027. The €3.4 billion is therefore the total support envelope; individual terms are still pending, and selection should not be reported as a signed contract or active procurement.
The Commission also plans the next Innovation Fund calls for early December 2026, including a €1 billion clean-tech manufacturing topic intended to de-risk supply chains. This is a future call, not an extra allocation to the current 77 projects. Manufacturers and technology providers should track the current agreement results separately from the next call’s formal documents and should not infer eligibility from the news release alone.
Editorial suggestion: keep two trackers. The first should map selected projects by heat pumps, solar, electrolysers, batteries and rare-earth magnets, noting country, expected agreement milestone and possible procurement links. The second should capture the next call’s official timetable, eligibility and technical thresholds. This is a business-development method, not a legal requirement; contact only relevant promoters and verify grants, tenders and validation documents before quoting.
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Some images in this article are generated illustrations.