A company has a storage technology proven at a limited scale and now needs to demonstrate it at grid scale, where it can show that it works reliably and economically in real operation. That demonstration is a large investment, and the additional cost over a conventional approach, together with the first-of-a-kind risk, makes it hard to finance on ordinary commercial terms.
The EU Innovation Fund is one of the largest funding programmes for the first commercial deployment of innovative low-carbon and clean technologies, financed from revenues of the EU emissions-trading system. Energy storage is among the fields it targets. It gives large grants, typically several million euros and up, to first-of-a-kind projects, covering up to 60% of their relevant costs: capex plus ten years of operating costs, minus revenues. It is aimed at projects that are innovative and at a meaningful scale, and it suits a company taking a proven storage concept to a real, representative scale.
A first-of-a-kind storage demonstration at a representative scale is exactly what the fund supports. The grant covers up to 60% of the project's relevant costs, its capex plus ten years of operating costs net of revenues, and on a demonstration of this size it comes to about €10 million. That share bridges the gap between a working concept and a project the company can commit to building.
The EU Innovation Fund runs through calls, usually with categories by project size. A project is assessed competitively against the greenhouse-gas emissions it avoids, the degree of innovation over existing technology, the maturity and readiness to be built, the potential to scale and replicate, and the cost efficiency of the support per tonne of CO2 avoided. The grant is tied to the project's relevant costs, by default its capex plus ten years of operating costs net of revenues, so a clear, well-evidenced calculation of those costs and of the emissions avoided is central to a strong application. For storage, demonstrating reliable, economic operation at the target scale is a key part of the case.
A €10M EU Innovation Fund grant.
The grant makes a grid-scale storage demonstration viable that would otherwise have stalled on its cost and first-of-a-kind risk. The company proves its technology at a representative scale, creating a reference that lowers the risk for the deployments that follow and helps the technology move towards the market.
EU Innovation Fund · up to 60% of relevant costsFor an innovative storage demonstration at scale, the EU Innovation Fund can fund up to 60% of the relevant costs, the gap that usually stops first-of-a-kind projects from being built. The fund is aimed precisely at proving technologies at the scale where they can then be replicated.
More on EU Innovation Fund: The guide EU Innovation Fund: funding and application explains the programme step by step. How we support your project is covered under EU Innovation Fund consulting.
The questions we hear most. Short answer first, detail after.
Yes. Energy storage is among the fields the fund targets, as part of demonstrating innovative low-carbon and clean technologies at a meaningful scale, financed from emissions-trading revenues.
Typically several million euros and up, depending on the size of the project, with the grant covering up to 60% of the project's relevant costs.
It should be a first-of-a-kind commercial plant that takes a proven concept to a real, representative scale - mature enough to be built, but still innovative and first-of-a-kind rather than routine.
Competitively, weighing greenhouse-gas avoidance, the degree of innovation, project maturity, scalability and the cost efficiency of the support per tonne of CO2 avoided.
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