Ocean Energy Europe has welcomed the deal on the new Innovation Fund which is intended to bring the next generation of clean energy technologies to market.
The agreement was reached by the European Council, Parliament and Commission as part of the revision of the Emission Trading System (ETS).
ETS is the European Union’s flagship policy to combat climate change by reducing the emissions from more than 11,000 installations in the power sector and energy intensive industry through a market-based cap and trade system.
Negotiators agreed to allocate 450 million emission allowances to the ETS’ Innovation Fund, Ocean Energy Europe said.
At today’s carbon price these 450 million allowances should provide around €3.5 billion of support for innovative technologies, such as renewables and ocean energy, which can deliver emission reductions, according to Ocean Energy Europe.
Welcoming the agreement, Ocean Energy Europe’s CEO, Rémi Gruet , said: “Europe is great at researching new technologies, but less successful at transforming them into an industrial reality. The innovation Fund is one mechanism to do just that: support large-scale technology demonstration to de-risk technologies and push them towards commercial readiness, cost reduction and export success.
“We look forward to working with the European Commission and Member States to ensure the Innovation Fund design fits the objective, and targets technologies that can deliver large scale carbon emission reductions. Renewables have a proven track-record in delivering on this goal and must be prioritized.
“Onshore wind, solar photovoltaics, and now offshore wind made it to commercial scale, now is the time to transform the work done by EU universities and companies on ocean energy and 2nd generation renewables into jobs and returns for the EU economy.”
The deal between Parliament and Council, reached today, November 9, 2017, provides a clear outcome after more than two years of intensive negotiations, following the Commission’s proposal to revise the EU ETS in July 2015.