Commission announces low-carbon tech call

The European Commission has launched a second call for proposals to encourage investment in new low-carbon technologies.

New applications will take place under the NER300 programme, which promotes the commercial demonstration of environmentally safe carbon capture and geological storage (CCS) and innovative renewable energy (RES) technologies. It is a key instrument to combat climate change and spur green growth and jobs in the energy sector.

Commenting on the move, Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, said: “With today’s launch, the EU is continuing its strong support for European businesses which are developing the technologies required to tackle climate change. The overwhelming response to the first call showed that EU businesses have the know-how and the ambition to lead the low-carbon transition. This second round offers all CCS and RES technologies a new chance of applying for funding, including those that were not awarded funding in the previous round. We hope to have a full range of low-carbon projects operational by 2018.”

Companies will have three months to prepare funding proposals and submit them to the European Investment Bank.

Funding for efforts to tackle climate change will also be available under the EU’s next research and innovation framework programme, Horizon 2020. Funding worth an estimated €3bn will be made available under the ‘Climate action, resource efficiency and raw materials’ societal challenge.