EU to support 77 projects from Innovation Fund, including Czech floating platform

Brussels, 19 October (CTK correspondent) - The European Commission announced today that it will support 77 European projects focused on innovative technologies to reduce emissions, with a total of 3.4 billion euros (roughly CZK 82.7 billion) from the EU's Innovation Fund. One Czech project is also set to receive support. It involves building a floating energy platform in Prague. The Commission announced the news today.

The Innovation Fund is a large EU grant programme that supports the market deployment of innovative low-carbon technologies. Its revenue comes from auctions of emissions allowances under the EU ETS.

The selected projects are located in 23 European Economic Area (EEA) countries: the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. They cover a wide range of sectors, including energy-intensive industries, renewable energy and innovative energy storage, clean technology manufacturing, net-zero-emission transport, processing and recycling of critical raw materials, advanced alternative fuels and industrial carbon management, the European Commission said in a statement.

The Commission estimates that the 77 projects have the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “During their first ten years of operation, they could prevent emissions equivalent to around 290 million tonnes of CO2. That is roughly equivalent to reducing emissions by one tonne of CO2 per second for ten years,” the EU executive added.

The Czech ComPon project involves installing a floating energy platform in Prague to produce heat and cooling, which will supply heat and cooling to the city's district heating and cooling network.