The European Commission is awarding over €3.6 billion to 41 large-scale clean tech projects, to be financed through the EU Innovation Fund. With a focus on the REPowerEU Plan and phasing out Europe's imports of Russian fossil fuels, these projects cover a wide range of industries, such as cement, steel, advanced biofuels, sustainable aviation fuels, wind and solar energy, and renewable hydrogen and its derivatives. The funding, sourced from the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, will contribute to the greening of significant sectors of the European economy, in particular those that are difficult to decarbonise.

Nine “mid-sized pilots” projects worth €250 million are being funded including a hybrid mid-sized pilot furnace for flat glass in Czechia operated by AGC Glass Europe.

The Volta project aims to combine cold-top electric melting and oxy-gas combustion in an integrated glass furnace in flat glass production, enabling an electrification rate of up to 75% whilst ensuring the high-quality standards of float glass. It will also use 100% recycled glass as raw material. The novel furnace is expected to reduce emissions by more than 75% for the pilot and for large float furnaces, while maintaining their competitiveness. Furthermore, it has the potential to be retrofitted to all existing flat glass furnaces in Europe, while safeguarding the competitiveness of the EU flat glass industry.

climate.ec.europa.eu

www.agc-glass.eu