EU Commission: 4.6 billion for battery production and renewable hydrogen

The European Commission, which was confirmed by the European Parliament last week, wants to continue promoting climate-friendly technologies. To this end, it published two new calls for tenders on Tuesday with a total budget of 3.4 billion euros. The aim is to promote the production of batteries for electric vehicles, for example. The European Hydrogen Bank is also launching its second auction to promote the production of renewable hydrogen in the European Economic Area (EEA) with a budget of 1.2 billion euros from EU funds. A further 700 million euros will be provided by three member states.

One of the two calls for funding is aimed at projects focusing on the production of components for renewable energies, energy storage, heat pumps and hydrogen production. The second supports projects with one billion euros that can be used to produce battery cells for electric cars or innovative manufacturing techniques, processes and technologies (IF24Battery). With this, the Commission wants to stimulate investments that are "crucial for Europe's success in the energy transition and its competitiveness". In view of the Northvolt insolvency, for example, it is important to overcome "economic obstacles currently facing the battery value chain in Europe".

EU battery production is a priority for the Commission

Both tenders and the auction will be financed by the Innovation Fund, which uses revenue from the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). The Commission is linking the measures to requirements for greater resilience in European industry. For example, the EEA is to be protected from dependence on a single supplier. Project sponsors for net-zero technologies and batteries have until April 24, 2025 to apply via the EU funding and tendering portal. The application deadline for the auction of renewable hydrogen is February 20. H2 based on renewable energy is considered the most promising solution for decarbonizing production processes in industry for which no other technologies are currently available to avoid CO₂ emissions.

In parallel, the Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have launched a new partnership to support investment in the EU battery manufacturing sector. As part of this cooperation, the InvestEU coronavirus aid program will be topped up with €200 million from the Innovation Fund. This loan guarantee is intended to support innovative projects along the European value chain for battery production. The aim is to "meet financing challenges". For example, additional EIB risk financing will be made possible over the next three years. The new Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra emphasized: "Battery production is a high priority for the energy transition in the transport and energy sector and beyond."

(vbr)