On Friday 16 February, the European Commission announced that it had authorised a €4 billion German scheme to help companies subject to the EU Emissions Trading System, such as those in the chemistry, metal, glass and paper sectors, to decarbonise their production processes. The scheme will be partly funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which is the main instrument of the NextGenerationEU European recovery plan.
Among the projects supported under this scheme, the European Commission lists the construction of melting tanks for glass production powered by electricity, and the replacement of traditional steel production processes by direct reduction hydrogen-powered processes.
The projects eligible for this aid must achieve a reduction in carbon emissions of 60% within 3 years and 90% within 15 years compared with the best available conventional technologies, based on the Emissions Trading System benchmarks.
Beneficiaries will be selected through a call for tenders, based on two criteria: the efficiency with which the aid is used and the speed with which emission reduction measures are implemented. (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)