The European Commission approved a €2.5 billion (60 billion CZK) Czech scheme to help manufacturing companies to decarbonise their production processes and improve their energy efficiency to foster the transition to a net zero economy, in line with the Green Deal Industrial Plan.
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Czechia notified to the Commission, under the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework, a €2.5 billion (60 billion CZK) scheme to support companies subject to the EU ETS to further accelerate their green transition.
Under this scheme, which will be fully funded through the EU Modernisation Fund, the aid will take the form of direct grants.
The scheme will be open to companies active in sectors subject to the EU ETS, including energy intensive industries, such as refineries and companies active in the production of heavy metals, construction materials and chemical products.
The purpose of the scheme is to help these industries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their production processes by at least 40% and their energy consumption by at least 20% compared to today.
In order to be eligible, companies aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions need to either electrify their production processes or switch from the use of fossil fuels to renewable hydrogen or renewable hydrogen derived fuels.
In particular, the aid per beneficiary will not exceed either €200 million or 10% of the total budget of the scheme, except for projects concerning refining activities and manufacturing of basic metals, for which Czechia demonstrated that individual amounts up to 20% of the total budget of the scheme may be necessary; will not exceed the aid intensities set out in the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework; and will be granted no later than 31 December 2025.
In addition, the aid is subject to conditions to limit undue distortions of competition, including safeguards for very successful projects generating extra net revenues or reducing costs compared to projections, where the beneficiaries will return part of the aid received to Czechia under a claw back mechanism. Furthermore, beneficiaries will not be able to increase their production capacity beyond 2%. ■