EU Innovation Fund — Regular Grants

Innovation Fund — Large-Scale Projects

Funds large European demonstrations of low-carbon technologies through high-impact industrial decarbonization projects.

Eligibility · EU member states

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The EU Innovation Fund is one of the world's largest funding programmes for first-of-a-kind low-carbon demonstration projects, financed by revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). The total programme budget is approximately €40 billion for 2020–2030, based on an assumed ETS carbon price of €75 per tonne. To date the Fund has awarded approximately €15 billion to around 260 projects across the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. The Large-Scale Projects call targets projects with capital expenditure exceeding €100 million in energy-intensive industries, renewable energy, energy storage, net-zero mobility, buildings, hydrogen, and carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS). The 2025 cycle (covering the full €5.2 billion IF25 budget across all size categories) closed on 23 April 2026; award decisions are expected in Q4 2026 to Q1 2027.

To qualify for the Large-Scale call, projects must: (1) be located in an eligible country — EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, or Norway; (2) reach TRL 8 or higher at the project start date; (3) demonstrate greater than 50% greenhouse gas avoidance compared to the relevant conventional technology reference scenario; and (4) have CAPEX above €100 million. Funding covers up to 60% of relevant costs, defined as the additional capital and operating costs versus the conventional reference technology. Electricity generation from non-recycled fossil fuels and fossil fuel production activities are explicitly excluded. Project Development Assistance is available from the European Investment Bank for proposals that need additional maturity support before submission.

Applications are submitted through the EU Funding and Tenders Portal following a two-stage process for large-scale projects: a concept note followed by a full application for shortlisted projects. Single entities and consortia are both eligible. The key competitive differentiators are the GHG avoidance rate, the degree of innovativeness, and the project's financial maturity. National Contact Points in each Member State provide pre-submission support, and CINEA (the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency) administers evaluation and grant management. The IF26 call cycle is under consultation as of June 2026.