The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have signed an agreement to expand Project Development Assistance (PDA) under the Innovation Fund, which will see increased technical and financial advisory support for decarbonisation projects.
The renewed agreement, which aligns with the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal, ‘aims to increase the deployment of net-zero technologies and boost the competitiveness of industries across the EU’, the EIB noted in a statement.
Project support
The agreement will see the EIB Advisory provide PDA to as many as 250 projects between this year and 2028, building on the initial Innovation Fund PDA programme, which supported 62 projects.
Some 16 of these have already secured Innovation Fund grants, while seven have received funding from national sources or other programmes, and one has been designated an EU project of common interest.
Given the expanded scope, the budget available for the new PDA phase has expanded from €24 million to €90 million, which the EIB said will ‘accelerate the deployment of cutting-edge decarbonisation technologies across Europe’.
Sectors including net-zero and low-carbon mobility, including maritime, rail and road transport, along with buildings have been added to the Innovation Fund remit, while new key performance indicators have been introduced to ensure sectoral and geographic balance and to promote support for smaller and less mature projects.
Read more: Europe ‘closing in’ on 2030 climate and energy goals
‘Long-term commitment’
“Through the Project Development Assistance provided by the Innovation Fund, the EIB is offering enhanced technical and financial support for promising decarbonisation projects,’ commented Wopke Hoekstra, Commissioner for Climate Action.
“We are laying the groundwork for the innovative and competitive industrial base of the future. This underscores the EU’s long-term commitment to industrial decarbonisation and innovation. We are confident that, with this renewed agreement, the EIB will continue to deliver successful, tailor-made support to Innovation Fund projects.”
Projects can apply to receive PDA through direct requests, via a new ‘open PDA’ process, in addition to the standard support mechanisms. The EIB will assess each request and offer support on a first-come, first-served basis. Read more here.
