EU launches €5.2 billion Innovation Fund calls for clean technologies

The European Commission has opened three Innovation Fund funding opportunities totalling €5.2 billion to support net-zero technologies, hydrogen production and industrial process heat decarbonisation.

• Main announcement: The Commission launched three calls under the Innovation Fund with €5.2 billion total: IF25 NZT call (€2.9 billion) for net-zero technologies; IF25 Hydrogen Auction (€1.3 billion) under the European Hydrogen Bank for RFNBO/electrolytic low‑carbon hydrogen (support paid as a fixed premium up to 10 years); and IF25 Heat Auction (€1 billion) under the Industrial Decarbonisation Bank to support electrified and direct‑renewable heat (output‑based fixed premium paid up to 5 years). Application deadlines: IF25 NZT until 23 April 2026, 17:00 (CET) (Info Day 16 December 2025); IF25 Hydrogen and IF25 Heat until 19 February 2026, 17:00 (CET) (Info Days 10 December 2025). Successful NZT applicants expected to sign grant agreements by Q1 2027; auction winners to sign within nine months after call closure.

• Background and implementation details: The calls aim to attract public and private capital and prioritise GHG emissions reduction, innovation, project maturity, replicability and cost efficiency, with an SME bonus point for NZT projects only coordinated/implemented by SMEs. Auctions follow a pay‑as‑bid, market‑based approach: hydrogen bids ranked by €/kg H2 and heat bids by €/t CO2 abated. Member States can use the Auctions‑as‑a‑Service scheme to allocate national funds to projects that pass evaluation but are not selected; Germany confirmed €1.3 billion of national funds for RFNBO hydrogen projects and Spain confirmed €465 million (of which €415 million for hydrogen and €50 million for industrial heat). The Innovation Fund is financed from EU ETS revenues and is estimated at ~€40 billion (2020–2030), having awarded >€15.8 billion to over 275 projects so far.