EU funding possibilities in the energy sector

Cohesion Fund

The EU’s Cohesion Fund aims to reduce economic and social disparity between EU countries and promote sustainable development.

The fund supports energy-related projects that benefit the environment for example by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing the use of renewable energy or improving energy efficiency.

Part of the Cohesion Fund is used to implement the energy union strategy with the help of the Energy and Managing Authorities Network (EMA).

Connecting Europe Facility

The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is the EU's funding instrument for boosting energy, transport, and digital infrastructure.

In 2018, the CEF was renewed for 2021-2027 with a budget of €42.3 billion to support investments in EU infrastructure networks for energy (€8.7 billion), transport (€30.6 billion) and digital (€3 billion). This represents a 47% increase compared to 2014-2020.

Every 2 years the European Commission draws up a list of EU projects of common interest (PCIs) which may apply for CEF funding.

European Investment Bank

The European Investment Bank (EIB) helps finance energy projects by providing companies with loans and other financial instruments.

Together with the European Commission, the EIB launched the European Investment Advisory Hub as part of the Investment Plan for Europe. The hub acts as a single access point that provides advice and expertise on administration and project development across the EU.

The EIB no longer supports traditional fossil fuel energy projects, including natural gas.

The European Fund for Strategic Investments

The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is a joint initiative between the EIB Group (the EIB and the European Investment Fund) and the Commission. It aims to mobilise private investment in projects which are strategically important for the EU, including the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy, power grids and interconnectors – all essential to speed up the decarbonisation of the EU economy.

European Regional Development Fund

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) aims to reduce economic and social disparity between the EU's regions. ERDF finances programmes in shared responsibility between the European Commission and national and regional authorities in EU countries.

In 2021-2027 it will enable investments that make Europe and its regions more competitive, greener, more connected, more social and closer to citizens.

Horizon Europe

Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation funding programme, succeeds Horizon 2020, which was active between 2014 – 2020.

Around €5.6 billion will be invested in research and innovation to support the European Green Deal, accelerating Europe's transition towards clean energy and climate neutrality by 2050.

As part of the 2023-2024 work programme, Horizon Europe’s Cluster 5 'Climate, Energy and Mobility' includes 6 REPowerEU flagships topics. The topics resulted in 13 projects that received €172 million in EU funding, and which will contribute to achieving the objectives of the REPowerEU plan.

The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) runs parts of Horizon Europe in the areas of transport and energy, as well as innovation of energy efficient technologies for buildings, heating and cooling and more.

Apply for Horizon Europe funding

InvestEU

The InvestEU Programme supports sustainable investment, innovation and job creation in Europe. It will bring together, under one roof, the European Fund for Strategic Investments and 13 other EU financial instruments and aims to trigger more than €372 billion in additional investment over the period 2021-2027.

The InvestEU programme consists of 3 components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal.

In September 2024, the Commission presented its interim evaluation of InvestEU. The evaluation demonstrated that at the halfway point in its lifecycle, EU financing under InvestEU had unlocked a further €218 billion in investments towards strategic areas. Key investment areas mentioned in the report include renewable energy projects, hydrogen projects, and energy efficiency.

Just Transition Mechanism

The Just Transition Mechanism is a financial tool that provide tailored support to the most vulnerable and coal-intensive regions in the transition to a greener economy. Over the period 2021-2027, it will mobilise at least €150 billion of investments to alleviate the socio-economic impact. The mechanism consists of 3 pillars

a Just Transition Fund of €40 billion to primarily provide grants
a dedicated scheme under InvestEU to crowd in private investments
a public sector loan facility with the EIB Group to mobilise additional investments and leverage public financing

LIFE: Clean Energy Transition

The sub-programme is dedicated to clean energy transition and aims to offer support to deliver on sustainable energy-related polices that contribute to reach the European Green Deal objectives.

With a budget close to € 1 billion for the period 2021-2027, the sub-programme aims to facilitate the transition towards an energy efficient, renewable energy based and resilient economy by funding coordination and support actions across Europe.

The LIFE calls for proposals are published on CINEA’s website as well as on the European Commission’s Funding & Tenders porta l.

Modernisation fund

This fund will contribute to the investment needs of the 13 lower-income EU countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia. It supports investments in generation and use of energy from renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, energy storage, modernisation of energy networks and the just transition in carbon-dependent regions. The total revenues of the fund may amount to some €14 billion in 2021-2030, depending on the carbon price.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) auctions the EU allowances of the Modernisation Fund, assesses investments proposed by the beneficiary EU countries, manages revenues and transfers resources.

Recovery and Resilience Facility

The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) was launched in 2021 as the key instrument at the heart of NextGenerationEU, the EU's plan for emerging stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is structured around 6 pillars: green transition; digital transformation; economic cohesion, productivity and competitiveness; social and territorial cohesion; health, economic, social and institutional resilience; policies for the next generation. The RRF will help the EU achieve its target of climate neutrality by 2050.

The Innovation Fund

The Innovation Fund is managed by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA).

With an estimated revenue of €40 billion from the EU Emissions Trading System between 2020 and 2030, the Innovation Fund aims to create financial incentives for companies and public authorities to invest in cutting-edge low-carbon and net zero technologies and support Europe's transition to climate neutrality. It funds projects in energy-intensive industries, carbon capture storage and utilisation, renewable energy and energy storage.

Funding is awarded through regular calls for proposals and competitive bidding. The first call for projects under the Innovation Fund took place in 2020 and the first Innovation Fund progress report was published in August 2022. Through its first 3 calls, the Innovation Fund has awarded around €6.5 billion to more than 100 innovative projects across the EU.

It is the successor of the NER 300 programme.

European Energy Programme for Recovery

Launched in 2009 in order to support key investments in the context of the economic crisis and in order to promote energy transition, the €3.98 billion European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR) finance aimed to fund 44 gas and electricity infrastructure projects, 9 offshore wind projects and 6 carbon capture and storage projects.

After 7 years of implementation, EEPR achieved good results in 2018. 35 projects out of 44 in gas and electricity infrastructure projects were completed; 4 out of 9 in the offshore wind projects are operational, but only 1 in the carbon capture and storage projects. The EEPR website was archived in 2019.

The Commission continues to monitor closely the on-going remaining projects. Lessons learned from EEPR were used in the preparation and the implementation of the projects of common interest (PCI).

Under the EEPR, the Commission also launched the European Energy Efficiency Fund (EEE-F) which aims at promoting a sustainable energy market and climate protection.

EU funding possibilities in the energy sector