The European Investment Bank has revealed it will invest about €2 billion in carbon capture and storage and innovative renewable energy projects, using money it raised under a carbon allowances sale scheme.
The EIB, the European Union’s investment arm, sold 200 million allowances in the NER300 scheme by late 2011 and finished selling the remaining 100 million allowances last week.
Gross sales from this second phase added up to about €548 million, the EIB reported.
Combined with prior proceeds, the money will fund clean energy and pollution mitigation technology research, under a plan envisaged by the executive arm of the EU, the European Commission.
“The European Investment Bank is pleased to support future investment in low-carbon demonstration projects,” EIB Vice President Jonathan Taylor said in a statement.
“Successful completion of monetisation of carbon allowances under the NER300 scheme will help both carbon capture and storage schemes and innovative renewable energy projects across Europe reach a commercial scale.”
The European Commission, with the EIB’s help, will select from 33 carbon capture project applications to fund and will announce the winners later this year, it said.
Having substantial completed plans for a 20 per cent reduction in fossil fuel dependency by 2020, the EC has now gone a step further, issuing new targets for greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy by 2030, proposing a 40 per cent carbon pollution reduction from 1990 levels and a 27 per cent renewable energy requirement.
This proposal still must receive approval from member states, but EU officials are already praising the deal as a major achievement.
“We will continue to work closely with the European Commission to ensure that the best applicants can be awarded proceeds raised from the ground-breaking NER 300 scheme.” said Mr Taylor
“The NER300 is a new path taken a few years ago to support large scale demonstration projects,” said Jos Delbeke, Director General for Climate Action, European Commission.
“We will need more of this type of innovation support in the transition to a low-carbon economy
“I am glad that the European Investment Bank has joined us in this innovative work and I commend them for having done an excellent job in monetising allowances,” Mr Delbeke added.
The EC is expected to announce details of awards to successful projects later this year.
More information on the NER300 initiative and the Bank’s involvement is available at http://www.eib.org/ner300.
The final monthly report detailing NER300 sale by the EIB is available at: http://www.eib.org/attachments/ner_monthly_report_april_2014.pdf
