Today, the European Commission has selected 65 projects under the Innovation Fund Heat Auction, the first ever EU-wide auction to accelerate the deployment of innovative clean heat technologies across European industry.

Across 10 European Economic Area countries, Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain, the projects will use a wide range of technologies to decarbonise industrial heat production, and accelerate the market uptake of electrified heat solutions and of heat produced directly from renewable sources.

The selected projects, with their use of innovative technologies, will avoid more than 6.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions over 10 years by replacing natural gas-fuelled heat production systems. Together they are expected to produce around 16.3 terawatt-hours (TWh) of decarbonised heat over their first 5 years of operation, based on a thermal capacity of 766 megawatts (MW). This is equivalent to replacing over 1.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas over five years, roughly comparable to the annual consumption of 4 million EU households.

The projects will receive a total amount of around €400 million in grants from the Innovation Fund. The money is coming from the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). The support from the Innovation Fund will allow these projects to contribute to the EU's clean transition, energy independence and security and industrial competitiveness.