EU Innovation Fund: Clean-Tech Grants Tracker (2026)
Last updated: October 22, 2026 · Last verified: October 22, 2026
The EU Innovation Fund is the European Commission’s main grant programme for commercial-scale clean-energy and industrial-decarbonization projects, financed out of EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) carbon-auction revenue rather than the regular EU budget. It is managed by CINEA (the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency) and runs as a series of competitive calls, each covering large-scale, medium-scale, small-scale, cleantech-manufacturing and pilot projects across renewables, storage, heat pumps, hydrogen, carbon capture and industrial decarbonization.
Innovation Fund Calls: Status Tracker
| Call | Status | Scale | Projects | Key date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IF24 — Net-Zero Technologies | Grant agreements signed | €2.4 billion call budget; €2.7 billion signed to 54 projects (€1.8m–€216m per project) | 54 signed; 6 more on reserve list for up to €491m combined | Signed Mar 24, 2026 |
| IF25 — Net-Zero Technologies | Closed; results pending | €17.5 billion in funding requested | 358 applications from 27 countries | Call closed Apr 23, 2026; results expected around Oct 2026; grant agreements targeted Q1 2027 |
As of this page’s last verification, the European Commission and CINEA had not yet published IF25 award decisions; the €17.5bn figure is the total requested across applications, not the amount that will ultimately be awarded (the IF24 call requested far more than its €2.4bn budget could fund, and only a fraction of applicants were awarded grants). Treat IF25 outcomes as expected, not confirmed, until CINEA publishes a decision.
Who Is Eligible and What It Funds
The Innovation Fund targets first-of-a-kind and early-commercial projects rather than mature technology, across: renewable electricity and fuel production, energy storage, carbon capture and storage/utilisation (CCS/CCU), heat pumps and other electrification of heat, green and low-carbon hydrogen production, and manufacturing of key net-zero components (batteries, solar, wind, electrolysers, heat pumps). Applicants are typically industrial companies, project developers and manufacturers based in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway; a dedicated small-scale window (projects under roughly €7.5m in capital cost) has a simplified application process aimed at smaller developers.
How to Apply
Calls are published and administered through the European Commission’s Funding & Tenders portal, with CINEA running the evaluation. Each call specifies its own budget split across large-scale, medium-scale, small-scale, cleantech-manufacturing and pilot-project topics, and its own submission deadline; there is no rolling or year-round application window. Applicants should check cinea.ec.europa.eu directly for the next call’s opening date once IF25 grant agreements are finalized, since the Commission typically opens a following call within months of closing the prior one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the EU Innovation Fund?
It is the European Commission’s flagship grant scheme for large-scale clean-energy and industrial-decarbonization projects, funded by EU carbon-market (ETS) auction revenue and administered by CINEA.
How much funding has the EU Innovation Fund awarded?
Its most recent completed call (IF24, Net-Zero Technologies) signed €2.7 billion in grant agreements across 54 projects in March 2026, with individual awards ranging from €1.8 million to €216 million.
Is the EU Innovation Fund still accepting applications?
The most recent call (IF25) closed in April 2026 with results expected around October 2026; a further call is expected to follow once IF25 grant agreements are finalized, but no new call was open as of this page’s last verification.
What technologies does the Innovation Fund support?
Renewable power and fuels, battery and hydrogen storage, carbon capture and storage, heat pumps, green hydrogen production, and manufacturing of clean-energy components such as batteries, solar cells and electrolysers.
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Sources
- CINEA (European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency), announcement of IF24 signed grant agreements, March 24, 2026
- European Commission climate action news, 2025 Innovation Fund Net-Zero Technologies call summary, May 2026
- Independent EU-policy tracker reporting on the IF25 call’s €17.5bn in requested funding
Illustrative image. Photo: Capmat007, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — source
[…] The battery-cell rate ($35/kWh) is large enough that it has repeatedly been cited by manufacturers and analysts as a central factor in the economics of building battery gigafactories inside the US rather than importing cells — it can offset a meaningful share of a cell’s production cost at scale. The Tesla Megapack, assembled at Tesla’s Lathrop, California megafactory, is one example of a grid-scale battery product built at a US facility of the kind this credit is designed to support. Battery-related incentive design is not unique to the US: see Poland’s home battery storage subsidy for a demand-side (household purchase) incentive by contrast with 45X’s supply-side (manufacturer production) design, and the EU’s parallel manufacturing-support mechanism in the EU Innovation Fund. […]