Commission invests EUR 3.4 billion in net-zero technology projects

The European Commission today selected 77 European net-zero technology projects to receive EUR 3.4 billion in funding under the Innovation Fund call launched in December 2025. By reinvesting revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) in innovative decarbonisation technologies, the projects will strengthen Europe's industrial leadership and competitiveness in these sectors and contribute to the clean transition, energy independence and security. Spread across 23 countries of the European Economic Area, the selected projects cover a wide range of sectors, applications and technologies at different scales: energy-intensive industries, renewable energy and innovative energy storage, clean-tech manufacturing, net-zero mobility, critical raw materials processing and recycling, advanced alternative fuels and industrial carbon management. For the first time the list includes a small modular nuclear reactor project and a direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS) project, as well as 6 critical raw materials projects. The Commission estimates the 77 projects could avoid around 290 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in their first ten years of operation -- roughly one tonne of CO2 per second for a decade. The call supported five themes, all oversubscribed: large-scale decarbonisation (12 projects selected, about EUR 1.58 billion requested), medium-scale (17 projects, about EUR 458 million), small-scale (20 projects, about EUR 124 million), clean-tech manufacturing (12 projects, almost EUR 895 million) and pilots (16 projects, about EUR 394 million). 84 additional projects passed the evaluation but received no funding; together with the 77 successful ones they will receive the STEP Seal of Excellence quality label, which helps them find other public and private funding. 160 proposals are not grant recipients but remain eligible for project development assistance from the European Investment Bank (EIB). Among the selected projects, two involve Romania. TERRA-Q (Calamearic SRL) aims to build an industrial-scale plant in Romania producing low-carbon, circular mineral tiles, replacing conventional ceramic firing at 1,200-1,400 degrees C with a fully electrified, low-temperature process that re-uses high shares of mineral and secondary materials. FLOW4EVE (Robert Bosch GmbH; Hungary and Romania) will industrialise a heat-pump-centred system that boosts electric-vehicle battery performance and can extend winter driving range by up to 20%. Next steps Project promoters have been invited to start preparing grant agreements with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA); the results will be announced in the first quarter of 2027. The next Innovation Fund call opens in early December 2026 and will include a EUR 1 billion clean-tech manufacturing topic. Background The Innovation Fund aims to mobilise an estimated EUR 40 billion of ETS revenues in 2020-2030. This call drew 358 applications requesting EUR 17.5 billion against EUR 2.9 billion available, bringing the whole Innovation Fund portfolio to roughly 320 projects with almost EUR 17 billion in committed grants.