Recently, the European Commission announced the completion of the selection process for the first round of its 2024 Innovation Fund (IF24) call for net-zero technology projects, which was launched in December 2024. From 359 applications, 61 projects have been selected for funding, with a total grant value of €2.9 billion. These projects span 19 industrial sectors and 18 EU countries, focusing on cutting-edge areas such as PV recycling, agrivoltaics, floating PV, and energy storage.
The initial budget for IF24 was €2.4 billion, but the total funding requested by applicants reached €21.7 billion, over nine times the budget. The European Commission subsequently increased the total funding award to €2.9 billion, prioritizing projects with high emission reduction potential, outstanding innovation, strong replicability, and significant cost-effectiveness, underscoring the urgent need for breakthroughs in core technologies.
The Finnish project NotNukeOne, the country’s first large-scale agrivoltaics demonstration project, integrates a single-axis tracking system, battery storage, and an AI platform. It aims to enhance energy utilization efficiency and grid stability while using AI to optimize energy trading and mitigate price fluctuations, with the goal of creating a replicable agrivoltaics model for Europe.
The INSPIRE-PV project will establish the world’s first large-scale, high-value PV recycling plants in France and Spain. Utilizing advanced technologies like pyrolysis and chemical separation, it aims to achieve efficient recovery of ultra-high-purity silicon and silver, addressing the challenge of PV waste management. In energy application innovation, the Spanish project GREEN HEAT ASTURIAS combines solar PV with efficient thermal energy storage and an energy management system to provide industrial customers with short-term green heat alternatives, helping to reduce reliance on natural gas.
The integration of floating PV with energy storage emerged as a key direction. The French project WATTRAXIS will deploy a next-generation floating PV system on an operational quarry, using an east-west panel orientation and electric maintenance systems to minimize environmental impact and enhance community acceptance. The LEYMEL project will utilize existing European reservoirs to deploy a hybrid system combining floating PV with small-scale pumped hydro storage, achieving a synergistic integration of long-duration storage and flexible power supply.
The European Commission is expected to sign grant agreements with the selected projects in the first half of 2026. To date, the Innovation Fund has supported over 270 projects, with total committed funding reaching €15.6 billion. The previous call (IF23) approved 85 projects with €4.8 billion in grants, which included a 3 GW PV manufacturing project. The next call (IF25) is scheduled for launch in December 2025.
