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Call key data
Innovation Fund 2023 Net Zero Technologies – General decarbonisation – Medium-Scale Projects
Funding Program
Innovation Fund
Call number
INNOVFUND-2023-NZT-GENERAL-MSP
deadlines
Opening
23.11.2023
Deadline
09.04.2024 17:00
Funding rate
60%
Call budget
€ 500,000,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project
between € 20,000,000.00 and € 100,000,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
short description
This call is for medium-scale projects aimed at general decarbonisation.
Call objectives
The following activities can be funded under these topics:
- activities supporting innovation in low-carbon technologies and processes in sectors listed in Annex I and Annex III to the EU ETS Directive 2003/87, including environmentally safe carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) that contributes substantially to mitigating climate change, in particular for unavoidable process emissions, as well as products substituting carbon- intensive ones produced in sectors listed in Annex I to the EU ETS Directive
- activities helping stimulate the construction and operation of projects that aim at the environmentally safe capture and geological storage of CO2 (CCS)
- activities helping the construction and operation of innovative renewable energy and energy storage technologies.
Carbon capture and utilisation can be funded if the capture of CO 2 occurs within one of the activities listed in Annex I of the EU ETS Directive, or if the utilisation of CO2 results in products substituting carbon-intensive ones from the sectors listed in Annex I to the EU ETS Directive, even if carbon is captured outside the activities of Annex I.
If the project involves building oversized infrastructure, i.e. can serve other companies, fair and open access for other operators needs to be ensured.
Hydrogen applications (i.e. hydrogen use as an energy carrier, reducing agent, or feedstock) in industry and hydrogen production projects with a demonstrated sufficient degree of innovation can be funded under these topics. We strongly encourage project installing and operating mature electrolyser technologies without additional relevant innovation in the use of the produced hydrogen to apply to the Innovation Fund auction for RFNBO Hydrogen.
In the maritime and aviation transport sectors, support can be provided to, e.g. breakthrough innovative technologies, including energy efficiency, sustainable alternative fuels, electrification, as well as zero-emission propulsion technologies, such as wind technologies, including innovative infrastructure in the maritime sector, notably for EU container transhipment ports.
Projects in this topic should contribute to building industrial capacity, technology leadership, supply chain resilience and strategic autonomy within the EU.
Only projects that have not started works at the time of grant application can be funded.
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Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
eligible entities
Education and training institution, International organization, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Mandatory partnership
No
Project Partnership
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
-
be legal entities (public or private bodies)
-
be established in one of the eligible countries: any country in the world.
Financial support to third parties is not allowed.
Projects must be located in EU Member States or EEA countries (i.e. Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein). Projects may also be located in Northern Ireland on the condition that they concern the generation, transmission, distribution or supply of electricity.
other eligibility criteria
Natural persons are NOT eligible (with the exception of self- employed persons, i.e. sole traders, where the company does not have legal personality separate from that of the natural person).
International organisations are eligible. The rules on eligible countries do not apply to them.
Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees
for the protection of the EU financial interests equivalent to that offered by legal persons.
EU bodies (with the exception of the European Commission Joint Research Centre) can NOT be part of the consortium.
Entities composed of members may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. Please note that if the action will be implemented by the members, they should also participate (either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities, otherwise they cannot claim part of the grant).
The project must:
- reach financial close within four years after grant signature (maximum time to financial close):
- operate at least (minimum GHG emission avoidance monitoring period) 5 years after entry into operation
Project duration may range between 3 and 15 years, from grant signature to the final payment. Projects of longer duration may be accepted in duly justified cases. Extensions are possible, if duly justified and through an amendment.
Additional information
Topics
Relevance for EU Macro-Region
EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region
UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)
project duration
between 3 and 15 years
Additional Information
Proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System (accessible via the Topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section). Paper submissions are NOT possible.
Proposals must be complete and contain all the requested information and all required annexes and supporting documents:
- Application Form Part A — contains administrative information about the participants (future coordinator, beneficiaries and affiliated entities) and the summarised budget for the project (to be filled in directly online)
- Application Form Part B — contains the technical description of the project (to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded)
- Part C (to be filled in directly online) containing additional project data
- mandatory annexes and supporting documents (templates available to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed, assembled and re-uploaded):
- detailed budget table/relevant cost calculator (‘financial information file’)
- participant information (including CVs and previous projects, if any)
- timetable/Gantt chart
- GHG emission avoidance calculator
- feasibility study — including at least: project description (background information, objectives, resource and feedstock availability and yield potential, expected project outputs, innovation); location analysis and strategic overlook (site, site plans, stakeholders involvement and acceptance); technical maturity assessment (technology readiness, technology process, suppliers of technology, feasibility of achieving project outputs); GHG avoidance and key consumptions figures; environmental and socio-economic impacts and mitigation measures; techno-economic feasibility; risks and mitigation measures (including heat map)
- business plan — including at least: executive summary; business proposition (product market, competitive environment, regulatory environment, business model and operating lifetime); main project counterparties (description of who they are and overview of key financials); diagram showing the relationship between the different project parties and the project including entities involved in the project, sponsors, shareholders, lenders, off-takers, suppliers, constructions contractors and other contractors, advisors, and insurers; products and services including assumptions on price, volumes, inflation used to derive project revenues; market analysis (market potential, trends, competitors’ overview, market uptake strategy...); SWOT or Porter 5 Forces analysis; financing plan: table with uses and sources (debt, equity, other), details of financing sources with key terms, projected financial close and main steps to achieve it; allocation of financing including InnovFund grant across the project milestones; budget CAPEX, OPEX underlying assumptions; economical and other assumptions; risks and mitigation (heat map) including sensitivity analysis; cash flow statements, profit and loss account and balance sheet for the last three years (consolidated or social accounts) of project shareholders and the entity carrying the project if it has existed for more than three years
- detailed financial model — applicant’s financial model sheet with detailed information on model assumptions and calculations to derive the financial projections (formulas, no hard coded figures, nor macros).
- for all topics except INNOVFUND-2023-NZT-GENERAL-SSP: knowledge sharing plan — including at least: communication activities; dissemination activities; plan to develop activities that go beyond mandatory knowledge sharing requirements
- support to project — documents indicating credible commitment for the project, including e.g. heads of terms, letters of interest or support, letters of approval from project funders, shareholders, board of directors or executive committee, suppliers, off-takers, construction/O&M companies, (if any)
- terms of supply — main terms of supply, construction and off-take agreements and other key commercial contracts for construction, operation phase, financing and its state of development (if any)
- due diligence reports (if any)
- permits, licences, authorisations (if any)
- other annexes
Your application must be readable, accessible and printable.
Proposals are limited to maximum 80 pages (part B). Feasibility study, business plan and knowledge sharing plan must not exceed 60 pages each.
Call documents
Call document Innovfund-2023-NZTCall document Innovfund-2023-NZT(756kB)
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