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 demonstration 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 a share of the additional cost of the innovative project compared with a conventional alternative. 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 a share of the additional cost of the innovative project, the step from a proven concept to a representative operational scale, and on a demonstration of this size the grant comes to about EUR 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 relevant additional cost of the project compared with a conventional alternative, so a clear, well-evidenced calculation of that additional cost 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 toward the market.
EU Innovation Fund · up to 60% of extra costFor an innovative storage demonstration at scale, the EU Innovation Fund can fund a large share of the additional cost, 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.
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 a share of the relevant additional cost of the innovative project.
It should be a demonstration 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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