On October 23, the European Commission announced that it will allocate €4.8 billion (approximately 37 billion RMB) from the Innovation Fund to support 85 innovative net-zero projects in 18 countries, as part of its 2023 proposal. These projects are expected to reduce approximately 4.76 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions over the next decade.
The selected projects span 18 countries, including Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, and Norway, with Estonia and Slovakia being invited for the first time. The projects cover a wide range of categories: energy-intensive industries, renewable energy, energy storage, industrial carbon management, net-zero transportation (including shipping and aviation), and buildings.
Among the selected projects, a total of 3 gigawatts of solar photovoltaic manufacturing capacity will be contributed to the EU. This includes a floating solar project in Belgium, a solar thermal plant and storage facility in Croatia, and a 1.5 GW heterojunction photovoltaic module factory in Spain, which will be developed by Trina Solar’s subsidiary, Trina Solar (Luxembourg).
Another selected company is Italian photovoltaic firm FuturaSun, with its FENICE manufacturing project (FuturaSun Advanced Italian Manufacturing Center). FuturaSun previously announced plans to invest in a module factory utilizing BC technology in Italy with the support of ISC Konstanz. In March 2023, the company had announced the construction of a 2 GW module factory in Cittadella, Italy.
