As announced in the 8^th Innovation Fund Expert Group (IFEG) Meeting on 6 July 2021, the preparations for the next calls for proposals under the auspices of the Innovation Fund are underway. The IFEF discussed the state of play on the first calls and the planning of the second calls for large-scale and small-scale projects.

The IFEG event disclosed that the Commission plans to launch the second call for large-scale projects on 26 October, while the second call for small-scale projects is expected to be launched in March 2022. There will be an estimated budget between EUR 1,3 and 1,5 billion EUR, depending on the carbon price. The one-stage application and selection process will be similar to the first call; both resubmissions and new applications are welcome. The application deadline is expected to be on 1 March 2022. The information on the evaluation results will be provided in July 2022 and grants will be awarded in the last quarter of 2022.

The meeting also hosted a session on the additional advisory services offered by the European Investment Bank and a session on new financing opportunities to support investments in clean technologies hosted by Roman Doubrava. The event also publicised the Green Transition Investment Facility, which was originally mentioned at the September 2020 SMARTSPEND conference. 

Recordings of the sessions “State of play on first calls and planning for second calls for large-scale and small-scale projects,” “Additional EIB advisory Services supported by NER300 funds” and “New financing opportunities to support investments in clean technologies” are available on the Innovation Fund website.