The European Union (EU) has announced a €3bn ($3.2bn) funding boost for renewable energy projects, the largest disbursement through its Modernisation Fund to date.
The financial support aims to upgrade energy systems and reduce greenhouse gas emissions across sectors including energy, industry and transport.
Since January 2021, the Modernisation Fund has directed a total of €12.65bn towards energy projects.
The EU emphasises that this latest round of funding will help member states achieve their climate and energy goals, furthering the bloc's ambition of reaching climate neutrality by 2050.
The first disbursement for 2024 will benefit ten EU member states, with significant amounts allocated to Czechia (€835.2m), Poland (€697.5m) and Romania (€1.095bn).
These investments will focus on renewable electricity generation, the use of renewable energy sources, the modernisation of energy networks and energy efficiency improvements.
Among the funded proposals are initiatives to strengthen the Bulgarian power grid, expand photovoltaic and energy storage in Croatia and support Czech households in adopting solar systems.
Other projects include enhancing energy efficiency in Estonian public sector buildings, modernising Hungarian district heating systems and promoting renewable energy in Latvian multi-apartment buildings.
Lithuania will see the development of energy storage capacities, while Poland will upgrade its heavy-duty transport charging infrastructure.
Romania will benefit from schemes to support electricity production from renewable sources and Slovakia will receive support for the production of renewable hydrogen.
Member states have upcoming deadlines to submit further investment proposals to the Modernisation Fund, with non-priority proposals due by 13 August 2024 and priority proposals by 10 September 2024.
European Commission executive vice-president for the European Green Deal, Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight Maroš Šefčovič stated: “The Modernisation Fund is a crucial instrument to foster decarbonisation, while showing solidarity in the EU.
“The €12.65bn that we have disbursed to member states since 2021 prove our commitment to achieving our climate neutrality goal in a socially fair manner.
“By supporting this group of member states in modernising their energy systems, we continue to move forward on our decarbonisation path via investment into clean technologies that also make us competitive in the long run.”
