The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) is a temporary instrument, launched in 2021, to help the EU emerge stronger and more resilient from the coronavirus pandemic and increase the resilience of national economies.
The facility in figures
The RRF is the largest EU funding programme, with €650 billion committed overall.
All EU countries must dedicate at least 37% of their Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs) to measures supporting the green transition, and by October 2025, they had exceeded this target, reaching an average of 42%.
In total, climate expenditure amounts to around €275 billion, with more than €184 billion allocated to energy-related measures.
Objective and result
The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) has the two-fold objective of helping EU countries recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as bolstering their resilience and making our economies and societies greener, more digital and more competitive. It channels EU funding to implement the REPowerEU plan, accelerating the clean energy transition and boosting EU competitiveness.
Through the RRF, the Commission raises funds by borrowing on the capital markets, issuing bonds on behalf of the EU, which are then available to EU countries for their implementation of ambitious reforms and investments that
- make their economies and societies more sustainable, resilient and prepared for the green and digital transitions
- address the challenges identified in country-specific recommendations under the European Semester framework of economic and social policy coordination
2025 RRF implementation report
The 2025 Annual Report on RRF implementation, published on 8 October 2025, shows that the RRF resulted in annual energy consumption savings of 33.4 million megawatt hours (MWh), equivalent to the annual energy consumption of around 20.9 million Europeans, as well as over 110 gigawatt (GW) of additional renewable energy capacity and more than 915 000 new or upgraded refuelling and recharging points for clean vehicles. The number of enterprises it supports continues to grow and reached 4.5 million by the end of 2024.
The equivalent of one third of all new renewable capacity deployed in the EU between 2021 and 2024 was supported by the RRF, which is expected to deliver 61 GW of newly installed renewable capacity. This will also save 15.8 billion cubic metres of natural gas – equivalent to a 16% reduction in Russian gas imports since 2021. Around 40 million households will be supplied with renewable electricity, and the RRF will modernise and construct at least 10 000 km of electricity grids.
The implementation of the RRF has progressed steadily. By the end of August 2025, €366 billion had been disbursed, representing over 55% of the total RRF funds. By October 2025, 44% of the milestones and targets from the RRPs had been fulfilled.
Reforms and investments
Through the RRF, support is directed towards both established and innovative renewable technologies, energy efficiency, electricity networks and interconnectors, storage solutions, hydrogen, and other clean technologies.
The RRF provides funding for investments, as well as changes to regulatory frameworks and structural reforms.
These measures support efforts to streamline rules and procedures— (such as simplifying and accelerating the permitting procedures), strengthen public-private cooperation, and uphold supportive schemes. For example, 9 EU countries included reforms to enhance the regulatory framework for the operation of energy communities.
The Netherlands complemented investments and reforms, including an energy market reform package to reduce congestion on the Dutch electricity grid, €1.4 billion in subsidies for over 600 000 residential energy-efficiency improvements, and support for the uptake of heat pumps.
Poland amended existing regulation (the Renewable Energy Sources Act and the Energy Act) to facilitate the establishment and operation of citizen energy communities, cooperatives and energy clusters. These reforms helped Poland achieve a total of 23 GW of onshore wind and photovoltaic capacity, reflecting important progress in the deployment of renewable energy.
More than half of the total €106.5 billion in energy-related funding is allocated to energy efficiency measures, helping European citizens, businesses and industry save energy and reduce their dependence on fossil fuel imports.
This includes €25.5 billion for energy efficiency measures in industry and around €81 billion for energy efficiency in buildings, comprising €45 billion for private buildings, €22.5 billion for public buildings, and €13.5 billion for the construction of new buildings.
26 EU countries included energy efficiency investments in their RRPs. Portugal and Slovakia allocated more than 30% of their RRP funds to this area, followed by the Netherlands (29%) and France (26%). In absolute terms, Spain, Italy, France and Poland are the countries allocating the largest amounts to energy efficiency measures. France serves as a key example, having directed a large share of its RRP funds to renovating 1.45 million homes and over 40 000 social housing units; upgrading more than 6 750 state-owned public buildings, targeting 30% average energy savings; and upgrading 5 000 very small enterprises/SMEs while supporting fossil-free projects, expected to reduce annual fossil energy use by 250 GWh.
About €34.2 billion is allocated to supporting a faster deployment of renewable energy. 23 EU countries have included reforms on renewables permitting and 9 have included reforms to enhance the regulatory framework for the operation of energy communities.
These reforms are aligned with the Commission’s guidance and recommendations on permitting, adopted in May 2024, as part of the 'REPowerEU – 2 years on' package.
Energy infrastructure
Approximately €25 billion is allocated to support electricity networks, storage and smart meters, and €1.6 billion is allocated to support 3 gas infrastructure projects needed to address immediate security of supply concerns in Croatia, Italy and Poland.
Many EU countries included reforms to enhance the power grid's ability to manage the variability of renewable energy sources, focusing on
- easing the integration of distributed energy resources
- enabling demand response to improve grid flexibility and efficiency
- implementing technological upgrades, such as energy storage solutions
The RRF also supports the production and uptake of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen (about €13.6 billion), including through Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs) on hydrogen.
The measures include supporting isolated, self-standing hydrogen production and consumption systems (‘hydrogen valleys’) and strengthening the supply chain, including through pioneering projects.
REPowerEU
The RRF supports a wide range of priorities under the dedicated REPowerEU chapters, including boosting energy efficiency and industrial decarbonisation, addressing infrastructure bottlenecks, enabling zero-emission transport, and incentivising the reduction of energy demand.
The largest share of REPowerEU chapters funding (€35 billion) targets measures to improve energy efficiency, accelerate renewable deployment, and support industrial decarbonisation. Another €17 billion is allocated to tackling critical energy-system bottlenecks, such as insufficient grid capacity, lack of cross-border interconnections, and limited storage capabilities, while accelerating the shift to zero-emission mobility. A further €6 billion is allocated for measures that incentivise reductions in energy demand.
Examples of measures included in the REPowerEU chapters, with completed milestones and targets
Reforms:
Germany enacted a key reform to accelerate the deployment of offshore wind energy power plants. The reform removes bottlenecks in planning and approval processes and increases the ambition for offshore wind energy generation from 40 GW by 2040 to 70 GW by 2045.
Portugal set up the National Energy Poverty Observatory, a dedicated body to oversee and drive efforts to alleviate energy poverty in Portugal. The reform will help eradicate energy poverty in Portugal by analysing and developing policies, as well as by monitoring, supervising, coordinating and reporting on the implementation of the Long-term Energy Poverty Strategy.
Investments:
Slovakia now has an operational Energy Data Centre, improving the preconditions for the connection of renewable energy sources by streamlining required data. This enables the aggregation of flexibility while improving the conditions for energy communities and sharing of renewable energy sources.
Estonia signed a co-financing agreement to expand its electricity distribution network by 160 MW, enabling greater integration of renewable energy sources and strengthening the country’s energy security.
National Recovery and Resilience Plans 2025
The Council has approved all 27 revised Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs), each of which includes a REPowerEU chapter. Since 2021, more than 100 amendments to the RRPs have been approved by the Council.
Implementation and expected results
The RRPs will help EU countries achieve the 2030 targets for renewables and energy efficiency, and pave the way for reaching the EU’s objectives for 2040.
By 2026, the RRPs are already expected to deliver tangible results, such as
- 60 GW of additional renewable capacity, including more than 15 GW of offshore wind
- 28 million MWh of savings in annual primary energy consumption
- the modernisation of 14 000 km of electricity transmission and distribution lines
The RRPs are a significant part of the measures included in the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs). The measures included in the REPowerEU chapters, and more generally in the RRPs, will also bring tangible results aligned with the EU Solar Energy Strategy, the Wind Power Package, the Action Plan on electricity grids and the recommendation and guidance on speeding up permit-granting for renewable energy and related infrastructure projects.