The level of innovation and contribution to CO2 reduction convince the expert panel
The European Commission has preselected seven groundbreaking decarbonization projects in Germany in the third call for funding in the EU Innovation Fund. It should be emphasized that four of the seven selected projects have their origins in North Rhine-Westphalia. This strong presence underlines the state's innovative strength and progress in the area of climate protection technologies.
The selected projects range from CO2 capture in the cement and lime industry to electrolyzer and PV module production to a pilot plant for electrified plastic recycling. They were selected by a committee of experts because of their high level of innovation and their substantial contribution to avoiding greenhouse gas emissions. A total of 41 projects from 15 EU countries were preselected with a funding volume of around 3.6 billion euros.
Federal Minister of Economics Habeck expressed his satisfaction with the result and emphasized the importance of the selected projects for the decarbonization of industry. The EU funds are an excellent complement to Germany's own efforts to promote climate neutrality.
The four projects from NRW are:
- Go Zero (Heidelberg Materials): cement plant; CCS project in Geseke (NRW)
- Everest (Rheinkalk GmbH): Demo CCS for the largest lime works in Europe in Wülfrath-Flandersbach (NRW)
- HydrOxy (IQONY GmbH): PEM electrolyzer in Duisburg (NRW)
- MoReTec-1 (LYONDELLBASELL): Innovative plastic recycling plant in Wesseling (NRW)
The EU Innovation Fund is one of the world's largest financing programs for the demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies. It helps bring industrial solutions to market to decarbonize Europe and support the transition to climate neutrality. The now pre-selected projects cover over 30 different reduction paths and can lead to the reduction of 221 million tonnes of CO2 emissions over 10 years of operation.
Member States have the opportunity to comment on the pre-selection until September 7th. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection actively supports the application of German projects and has set up a national contact point for the EU Innovation Fund.
The European Commission's next funding call for large-scale projects worth 4 billion euros is expected by the end of 2023.
Source: BMWK
Learn more?
Further information about the EU Innovation Fund funding program can be found here:
