EU to pump in $1.8bn investment in energy transition projects

The EU announced €1.8bn ($1.8bn) of funding for 17 large-scale renewable energy and decarbonization projects. The projects include hydrogen, renewable power generation and advanced biofuels projects.

Collectively, the projects could save 136mn t/CO2 equivalent over their initial decade of operations. Successful applicants include three hydrogen projects, two of which could produce around 70,000 t/yr combined, of hydrogen. The third, Shell’s Holland Hydrogen development, aims to build a 400MW electrolyser by 2027.

Funding was awarded to four carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects attached to cement production facilities – typically a hard-to-abate sector – in France, Germany, Bulgaria and Poland.

An offshore wind project, solar and battery manufacturing plants and a plastics recycling development also secured funding. The projects were chosen from 139 applicants under the EU’s second call for large-scale decarbonization developments with capital costs over €7.5mn. The grants will come from the EU’s Innovation Fund.

A carbon mineral storage project in Iceland won financing. It will have estimated storage capacity of 880mn t/CO2 and puts the cost of CO2 storage at €13/t — significantly lower than industry estimates, although these also include capturing the gas.

There were 20 further projects not deemed mature enough for a grant. It has pre-selected these for development assistance from the European Investment Bank, with further announcements on this due in the fourth quarter.