Two projects in Germany, one in France and one in Portugal will receive nearly €250m in funding from the European Investment Bank, under a European Union scheme to boost innovation in renewable energy (RES) technologies.
The NER 300 programme, which launched its first call for proposals in November 2010, announced this week the list of 23 RES projects that will share the €1.2bn award. None of the carbon capture and storage projects was considered eligible.
The three-phase 1GW Innogy Nordsee wind project in the German North Sea will receive €70m. Two floating turbine projects, the 26MW Vertimed in France and the Windfloat pilot in Portugal, have been awarded €34.3m and €30m respectively.
The largest award for offshore wind, €112.6m, goes to the 400MW Veja Mate project, off Helgoland, Germany. The project will see BARD’s 5MW turbines installed on tripile foundations.
Criteria for the awards included the potential for the innovative technology to be scaled up and replicated and the cost-effectiveness of the energy produced. Projects in receipt of funding must have a "reasonable expectation" of being operational by the end of 2016.
On announcing the award, the European Commission said a second call for proposals would be made "swiftly". It will again include RES and carbon capture and storage projects.
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