23 European highly innovative demonstration projects in the field of energy will receive €1.2 billion from the first call of the NER300 Programme. These projects will cover a wide range of renewable technologies such as bioenergy, concentrated solar power, geothermal, wind and ocean energy resources, or distributed renewable management – i.e., smart grids.

These highly innovative research projects in energy will be funded through a financial scheme in which those who pollute the most will bear the cost of the arge-scale demonstration of new low-carbon technologies, as highlighted by the Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard. More specifically, the scheme provides that projects will be co-financed with revenues obtained from the sale of 200 million emission allowances from the new entrants' reserve (NER) of the EU Emissions Trading System.

The NER300 Programme will contribute with half of the relevant costs of selected projects, i.e. the additional costs compared with the existing proven technologies. The rest of the funding will be covered by private investment or additional national funding. Project will receive funding from NER300 annually based on proven performance according to the amount of green energy produced, as well as the meeting of knowledge-sharing requirements.

It is estimated that these projects will employ several thousand full-time employees during the implementation phase which will include three or four years, and that about 3000 full-time workers will be required to maintain operations. In regard to their contribution to energy production, the 23 demonstration projects will increase EU production by about 10 TWh. Beyond this contribution, the aim of the projects is to positively demonstrate the application of technologies that can subsequently increase production from renewable sources across the EU.