The UK energy ministry has submitted seven carbon-capture and storage (CCS) and five high-tech renewable energy projects to the European Investment Bank (EIB) for funding, the department said on Tuesday.
The European Commission can choose up to three projects per European member state to receive a share of a roughly 4.5 billion euro ($6.4 billion) support scheme, after a nine-month due diligence period during which the EIB verifies the projects' financial and technical deliverability.
The UK projects that the energy ministry picked to bid for EU funding included Drax, Alstom and National Grid's North Yorkshire project, Peel Energy's Ayrshire project and the Don Valley Power Project in Yorkshire, which received fresh funding from its new owner 2CoEnergy on Monday.
"Taking forward these sorts of technologies will be crucial to our move to a low-carbon economy, providing green jobs as well as helping us lower emissions and increase energy security," said UK Energy Minister Charles Hendry.
The European "New Entrant Reserve 300" (NER300) fund to support CCS technology was agreed in 2008 by the European Council, which sets out the general political direction of the bloc.
CCS is still a commercially unproven technology but is widely seen as a key mechanism to fight climate change by burying greenhouse gas emissions, while maintaining large power plant capacity.
Next to innovative renewable energy projects, up to 12 CCS projects are expected to be given a share of the proceeds from the sale of 300 million carbon permits called EU Allowances (EUAs) from the EU Emissions Trading Scheme's (EU ETS) New Entrants' Reserve.
Two UK projects withdrew their application for funding before Monday's deadline, but the energy ministry refused to reveal their names, saying the information was commercially sensitive.
"Both those projects may compete for UK funding in the future, depending on the timing and criteria of the UK competition," a spokesman said.
Britain is running a separate CCS funding scheme, which will cover costs for four projects of up to 9.5 billion pounds ($15.6 billion).
