NER 300 programme is one of the world's largest programmes for the support of innovative low-carbon technologies. It covers pre-commercial projects of both renewable energy (RES) and carbon capture and storage (CCS). The NER 300 programme is an essential instrument in the EU climate and energy policy because:
- It bridges the gap between R&D and commercialisation by funding first-of-a-kind projects
- It provides 2.1 billion euros to fight climate change now
- It reinforces the EU's competitiveness by supporting low-carbon technologies, in which the EU enjoys global technological leadership
- It increases the EU's security of supply by focusing on indigenous sources of energy
The session, attended by about 80 participants was opened by a welcome and an introduction by Torsten Woellert, the deputy Head of the Low Carbon Technologies Unit at DG CLIMA. Kerstin Lichtenvort (DG CLIMA) presented the goal, structure and state-of-play of the NER 300 funding programme.
Next, three NER 300 projects presented their projects and reported on their experience and perception of the funding programme:
- Italian bioenergy BEST project (Piero Cavigliasso, Director of Institutional relations and Public funding, Biochemtex);
- French wind energy Vertimed project (Philippe Veyan, Project Director, EDF EN);
- Belgian smart grid SLim project (Jeroen Verbeeck, Market Development Manager, EDF Luminus).
All projects highlighted the importance of the funding received by the NER 300 programme emphasizing the strategic role played by the programme. Project sponsors and participants also expressed their wish for a continuation of the programme in the future.
The meeting was closed by a Q&A session chaired by Torsten Woellert.
All the presentations from the speakers can be downloaded here.
Background
NER 300 is a large European funding programme for innovative low-carbon energy demonstration projects. Its name indicates that its funds do not come from the EU budget, but are generated by the sale of 300 million emission allowances of the new entrants' reserve (NER) set up for the third phase of the EU emissions trading system. The programme supports a wide range of innovative CCS and RES technologies.
NER 300 will bridge the gap between R&D and commercialisation by funding first-of-a-kind projects. In total, it provides 2.1 billion euros but it will leverage roughly 2.8 billion euros of private investments. It aims to boost the deployment of innovative low-carbon technologies, where the EU still enjoys a global technological leadership, and as a result will contribute to the creation of thousands of jobs.
Under the first call for proposals funding was awarded to 20 renewable energy projects (December 2012), whereas 18 RES projects and 1 CCS project were selected for funding under the second call (awarded in July 2014). The projects are now moving towards implementation, with one already launched – the Italian bioenergy BEST project.
The results of both calls for proposals are available here.
Knowledge sharing
Knowledge sharing requirements are built into the programme as a tool to lower risks in bridging the transition to large-scale production of innovative RES and CCS deployment. The goals of knowledge sharing are – amongst others: to de-risk CCS and RES with regard to scaling up to commercial size; to accelerate the deployment of CCS and innovative RES; and to increase the undertaking of, and confidence in, CCS and RES by the wider public.
For these reasons, project sponsors are obliged to submit annually to the European Commission relevant knowledge (RK) gained during the implementation of their project. The European Commission assesses the submitted RK with a view to establishing whether the project has adequately complied with its knowledge sharing obligations and will disseminate relevant knowledge.
Programme management and implementation
The European Commission is responsible for the overall management of NER 300. The Commission draws on the expertise of the European Investment Bank to evaluate proposals submitted by Member States, to sell NER allowances, and to manage the revenues and the disbursement of funds.
DG CLIMA is in charge of managing the NER 300 programme. The JRC supports DG CLIMA in the implementation of the NER 300 knowledge sharing process, including the assessment and dissemination of RK from projects.
Contact and further information
For further details, please contact:
Andreas Uihlein (andreas.uihlein@ec.europa.eu), JRC (IET)
Filippo Gagliardi (Filippo.gagliardi@ec.europa.eu), DG CLIMA
General information on the NER 300 programme can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/lowcarbon/ner300/.