Innovation Fund 2025: auctions attract almost €10Bn of bids from European industry for decarbonisation

"Innovation Fund 2025 auctions attract almost €10Bn of bids from European industry for decarbonisation support", said the European Commission on 20/03/2026.

"Funded from EU Emissions Trading System Revenues, the winning bids will help deliver the Clean Industrial Deal, and boost the competitiveness and resilience of European industry".

Whereas the applications closed on 19/02, it can be noted that:

• "The pilot auction on industrial heat (IF25 Heat) attracted 85 bids from 14 European countries, amounting to €1,4Bn in funding requested (1,4 times the awarded budget of €1 Bn).

• The third auction for hydrogen production (IF25 Hydrogen Auction) attracted 58 bids from European hydrogen producers, seeking a total of €8.4Bn in funding, which oversubscribes the €1.3 billion budget by more than 6 times. "

For the first time, the auction for hydrogen "included a topic for producers with maritime or aviation off-takers, as well as an expanded eligibility to include projects producing electrolytic low-carbon hydrogen (i.e from nuclear energy) as well as renewable fuels of non-biological origin…