The EU Commission has adopted a new temporary crisis framework on state aid to support European companies in the transition to a zero-emission economy.
This was announced by the EU executive.
The new aid scheme "extends the possibility for Member States to further support the measures necessary for the transition to a zero-emission industry. This concerns in particular schemes to accelerate the introduction of renewable energy and energy storage and schemes for the decarbonisation of industrial production processes, which Member States can now set up until 31 December 2025", reads the note from the Commission.
The scope of application of these measures is different from that which usually characterizes a state aid regime and focuses on support for renewable energies, energy storage and the decarbonisation of industrial production processes that are even easier to design and more effective, through: simplifying the conditions for granting aid to small projects and less mature technologies, such as renewable hydrogen, eliminating the need for a tender procedure, subject to certain safeguards;
broadening the possibilities for support for the deployment of all types of renewable energy sources;
expanding the possibilities for support for the decarbonisation of industrial processes switching to hydrogen-derived fuels;
The new temporary framework - the third after those put in place by Brussels on the Covid emergency and, subsequently, on the consequences of the war in Ukraine - introduces new measures, applicable until 31 December 2025, to further accelerate investments in key sectors for transition to a carbon-neutral economy, enabling investment support for the production of strategic equipment, in particular batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, heat pumps, electrolysers and carbon capture and storage, as well as for the production of key components and for the production and recycling of related critical raw materials.
