NER 300 programme

NER 300 is a funding programme pooling together about EUR 2 billion for innovative low-carbon technology, focusing on the demonstration of environmentally safe Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and innovative renewable energy technologies on a commercial scale within the EU.

Renewable energy technologies
at the focus of NER 300

This page provides an overview of the NER 300 programme. More information on the legislation, monetisation of allowances and annual reporting requirements is available on the documentation page.

The NER 300 programme, involving all EU Member States, was set up to support the demonstration of a wide range of

• CCS technologies, namely pre-combustion, post-combustion, oxyfuel, and industrial applications, and
• renewable energy technologies, namely bioenergy, concentrated solar power, photovoltaics, geothermal, wind, ocean, hydropower, and smart grids.

The NER 300 programme took its name from the sale of 300 million emission allowances from the New Entrants' Reserve (NER) set up for the third phase of the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS). The funds from the sales have been distributed to projects selected through two rounds of calls for proposals, covering 200 and 100 million allowances respectively.

Under the first call for proposals in 2012, the European Commission awarded grants totalling EUR 1.1 billion to 20 renewable energy projects.

See this Q&A for further details of the financed projects.

The projects that have received funding from the NER 300 programme are now moving towards implementation. They reached final investment decisions by December 2016, and will enter into operation by December 2019 at the latest.

Under the second call for proposals in 2014, the European Commission awarded a total of EUR 1 billion in funding to 18 renewable energy projects and one CCS project.

See this Q&A for further details of the financed projects.

The projects that have received funding from the NER 300 programme reached final investment decisions by June 2018, and will enter into operation by June 2021 at the latest.

Further NER 300 calls for proposals are not planned. The Commission now focuses on the projects already selected for funding and on preparing the first call under the new Innovation Fund.

Due to the challenging global and EU economic environment, some of the 20 projects found it difficult to raise sufficient equity or to attract additional financial support and had to be withdrawn.

The Commission has decided to reinvest the unspent funds from the first NER 300 call to maximise the benefits of the programme and leverage additional private investments in low-carbon innovation.

The unspent funds, amounting currently to some EUR 623 million, are reinvested through existing EU financial instruments managed by the European Investment Bank: InnovFin Energy Demo Projects (EDP) and Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Debt Instrument.

Selected projects receive support in the form of loans, as a guarantee for additional debt financing.

The InnovFin EDP can finance projects in innovative renewable energy, CCS, smart energy systems and storage. InnovFin EDP is a financial instrument and is therefore entirely market-driven. Support is provided to eligible projects on a first come, first served basis.

To apply, project promoters can contact the EIB.

So far, three projects have been selected to benefit from the NER 300 unspent funds support under the InnovFin EDP, amounting to some EUR 73 million.

Project development assistance (PDA) under the InnovFin Advisory is also available to project promoters to increase the maturity of their projects.

So far, four projects have benefited from PDA financing backed by the NER300 undisbursed funds.

CEF Debt Instrument

The CEF Debt Instrument can finance innovative projects using renewable energy in the transport sector such as clean vehicles, fuels, charging infrastructure or transport networks.

So far, three projects have been selected to benefit from the NER 300 unspent funds support under the CEF Debt Instrument, amounting to some EUR 34 million.

Under the CEF Regulation, the combination of CEF Grants and CEF Debt Instrument financing (i.e. blending) is possible.

Project promoters may also consider an application for CEF grants through the CEF Transport Blending Facility launched in November 2019 to support sustainable transport in Europe.

Project promoters interested in advisory services related to financing and blending opportunities, including those offered by the CEF Transport Blending Facility, can request advice through the European Investment Advisory Hub (eiaheib [dot] org (eiah[at]eib[dot]org)).

Unspent funds from withdrawn projects under the second NER 300 call, amounting currently to some EUR 735 million will be channelled into the Innovation Fund.

Click on the + signs for more information.