Breakthrough Energy Ventures Europe (BEV-E), a new €100 million
investment fund was established by the European Commission, the
European Investment Bank and Breakthrough Energy Ventures during
the Fourth Mission Innovation Ministerial meeting in
Vancouver, Canada.
The fund will help develop innovative European companies and
bring radically new clean energy technologies to the market. It
will support Europe's best clean energy entrepreneurs whose
solutions can deliver significant and lasting reductions in
greenhouse gas emissions. The first of its kind, it caters to
the capital intensity and long development horizons that energy
technologies need.
Funding for BEV-E will include a €50 million contribution from
the European Investment Bank guaranteed by InnovFin, a
financial instrument funded through the EU's research and
innovation programme, and a €50 million contribution from
Breakthrough Energy Ventures, an investor-led fund committed to
supporting cutting-edge companies in the energy sector.
Maroš ŠefÄoviÄ, Vice-President of the
Commission for the Energy Union, said: “Business as
usual is not an option. We need to boost our investments with
more than 500 billion euro each year to achieve a carbon
neutral economy by 2050. I am pleased that our pilot
cooperation with Breakthrough Energy has taken off so fast.
This is pioneering work: aligning private and public investment
in cutting-edge innovation, to the benefit of the Energy Union
and our climate.”
Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research,
Science and Innovation, said: “By setting up the
Breakthrough Energy Ventures Europe fund in record time, we are
delivering on our commitment to boost public-private
investments in clean energy innovation. It is only through
joining forces across sectors and continents that we can tackle
climate change and build a sustainable future.”
Bill Gates, Chairman of Breakthrough
Energy Ventures, said: “Breakthrough Energy
Ventures-Europe is a great example of driving innovative ways
for the private and public sectors to collaborate, deploy
capital, and build companies. We have the resources to make a
meaningful difference, and the flexibility to move quickly.
That's a rare and powerful combination.”
Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President of the
European Investment Bank responsible for innovation,
added: “Successfully tackling climate change needs
CO2-neutral energy production – and we do not have much time to
achieve this. Deployment of cutting-edge technologies must be
accelerated. This financing will allow new technology to
replace fossil-intensive energy generation. The European
Investment Bank is pleased to work with world class partners to
support the Breakthrough Energy Ventures Europe fund.”
The fund will invest in five major energy-related sectors where
efforts are essential in fighting climate change: electricity,
transportation, agriculture, manufacturing and buildings.
Investments are expected to start in the second half of 2019,
at which time EU Member States and countries associated with
Horizon 2020 will be eligible to apply for BEV-E funding.
The new fund will contribute to fulfilling the EU's commitments
outlined in the Commission's “Clean Energy for All
Europeans” package, including proposals designed to support
clean energy innovation, increase energy efficiency, boost
renewable energy usage and reform the European energy market.
The European Parliament and the Council of the EU have adopted
all proposals from the package.
Background
In the margins of the COP21 climate conference in Paris, global
leaders launched Mission Innovation,
an international partnership to accelerate clean energy
innovation and provide a long-term global response to climate
challenge. By joining Mission Innovation, 23 countries and the
European Commission (on behalf of the EU) pledged to double
their clean energy research and innovation funding by 2021.
On the same occasion, a group of investors announced their
intention to drive innovation from laboratories to the market
by investing long-term capital at unprecedented levels in
early-stage technology development in Mission Innovation
participating countries, thereby creating the Breakthrough
Energy Coalition.
In December 2017, during the One Planet
Summit in Paris, Breakthrough Energy announced the
piloting of public-private partnerships with five Mission
Innovation members, including the European Commission.
The agreement between the European Investment Bank
and Breakthrough Energy
Ventures builds on the Memorandum of
Understandingsigned on 17 October 2018 by , European Commissioner for
Research, Science and Innovation, and Bill Gates, Chairman of
Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
