Research, innovation and competitiveness are paramount to accelerate the EU energy transformation and reduce the cost of the energy transition. Recently, the Commission put forward the communication ‘Towards an integrated strategic energy technology (SET) plan’, which shows how to give a new impetus to the development and deployment of low-carbon energy technologies, by better coordinating and prioritising research and innovation efforts across Europe.
The Energy Union strategy places consumers at the core of the EU energy policy, encouraging them to take full ownership of the energy transition and benefit from the new and innovative technologies. Meeting this ambition requires the innovation of the supply and consumption chains and a higher focus on the efficient delivery of the requested energy services (i.e. heating and cooling, power, mobility).
Financing is recognised to be a key element in bringing innovation to the market. Therefore, the Commission and the European Investment Bank's InnovFin provides risk financing in the form of loans, equity and guarantees, going beyond traditional grant-based support. InnovFin energy demonstration projects, a specially designed instrument, can also provide risk financing to first-of-a-kind commercial-scale demonstration projects in the fields of renewable energy and hydrogen and fuel cells. The current EU emissions trading system also provides financing opportunities for investments in innovation. With the proposals for the revision of the ETS Directive, presented in July 2015, the Commission proposed a new Innovation Fund and a new Modernisation Fund. Finally, the Horizon 2020 framework programme is crucial to support the research and innovation objectives of the Energy Union. In the period 2014–2015 its financial contribution amounted to 8 800 000 000 EUR to support energy research, clean transport, climate action and resource efficiency, bioeconomy and key enabling technologies. However, this increased effort has not translated yet in growing investments in clean energy technology projects. For instance, in 2014 new investments in clean energy in Europe summed up to almost 60 000 000 000 USD, while in 2015 they were about 46 000 000 000 USD.
The EU 2030 framework for climate and energy policies consists in reducing domestic GHG emissions by at least 40 % in 2030, compared with 1990 levels, increasing the share of renewables to at least 27 % of final energy consumption and improving energy efficiency by at least 27 %, relative to a projected reference level, in 2030. This framework requires relevant and non-volatile flow of investment in innovative low-carbon energy supply technologies including their integration into the energy systems, and in upgrading and expanding electricity distribution and transmission networks as well as new technologies and solutions for energy efficiency on the demand side.
The purpose of this tender is to facilitate the building of the investment community for innovative energy technology projects to accelerate the transformation of Europe's energy system. This investment community should be in a position to develop/finance innovative solutions that can contribute considerably to giving consumers in homes, companies and public administration control to optimise their energy consumption and to support the competitiveness of European industry.