Zabala Innovation reaches 12 approved projects under the Innovation Fund in 2025

With Monday’s publication of the Net-Zero Technologies call results, the consultancy strengthens its leadership in this programme

November 7, 2025
European project funding

At a glance: the essentials of this article

Zabala Innovation consolidates its European leadership in securing climate financing after achieving 12 approved projects in the 2025 Innovation Fund calls and more than 30 since the programme’s inception. With a 40% success rate, the consultancy positions itself as a benchmark in the comprehensive management of European funding aimed at industrial decarbonisation, participating in all lines of the fund and already preparing for the 2026 calls.

Zabala Innovation strengthens its leadership. The consultancy adds 12 approved projects in 2025 and surpasses 30 since the launch of the Innovation Fund.

Success consolidated. The 40% success rate confirms its effectiveness in securing financing for climate innovation.

The programme evolves. With a budget of €40 billion until 2030, the Innovation Fund launches a new industrial heat auction.

Companies get ready. Zabala Innovation is already advising entities for the 2026 calls, which will include two auctions and two standard ‘grant’ calls.

Experience makes the difference. Its technical and strategic approach enables each project to be adapted to the new European funding models.

Following its recent successes in the Net-Zero Technologies (NZT) call, and with projects also financed under the Batteries and Hydrogen Auction lines, Zabala Innovation reaches 12 approved projects in the Innovation Fund calls closing in 2025, and more than 30 since the programme’s launch. These results consolidate its position as one of Europe’s most effective actors in obtaining funding for climate innovation. Its leadership is backed by a 40% success rate, with nearly half of the submitted proposals selected for European support.

“This is a result that reinforces our position as a benchmark in the comprehensive management of European funding aimed at major investments in industrial decarbonisation,” says Marcos Jareño, Head of Business Development for European Programmes at Zabala Innovation.

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Camino Correia, Director of the European Projects Area and member of Zabala Innovation’s Executive Committee, highlights: “Our approach is based on finding the best opportunity for each client and supporting them with technical and strategic rigour. This year we have demonstrated that we can succeed in every scenario.”

A key programme for industrial decarbonisation

The Innovation Fund, managed by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), finances demonstration projects for innovative technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With a €40 billion budget until 2030, sourced from the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), the programme has been diversifying its mechanisms to adapt to different levels of technological maturity and funding models.

From its launch in 2020 until 2023, the programme was organised into two categories — Large Scale and Small Scale — focused on direct grants. However, the call launched at the end of 2023 marked a strategic shift by adding medium-scale projects and broadening its scope with clean technology manufacturing lines and pilot projects. It also integrated all these modalities under the new NZT line. As a novelty, it also managed the first competitive hydrogen auction.

In 2025, the programme added a specific line for battery cell manufacturing and announced the launch, by the end of the year, of a new auction focused on the electrification of industrial heat processes.

Innovation Fund today

“The new 2026 calls will open at the end of 2025, and Zabala Innovation is ready to support companies in this new phase,” says Jareño. This is the structure of Innovation Fund 2026:

Two auctions, expected to close in February, one dedicated to hydrogen and the other to the electrification of industrial heat.
Two standard grant calls, expected to close in April: the traditional NZT line, focused on industrial innovation in energy-intensive sectors, the deployment of advanced renewables and storage solutions; and the line for manufacturing battery cells for electric vehicles.

“The third edition of our I nnovation Fund Experts’ Guide analyses this evolution, together with the results and success ratios achieved in each call,” notes Jareño.

A wide range of beneficiaries

Both private companies and public entities developing clean and innovative technologies in emission-intensive sectors can benefit from the Innovation Fund.

Potential beneficiaries include projects on carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCU/CCS), renewable energy generation, energy storage, green hydrogen, as well as clean technology manufacturing facilities and industrial sectors such as steel, cement, chemicals, glass or ceramics.

Also eligible are energy-intensive industries, sustainable mobility projects — maritime, air or land — low-carbon construction initiatives, and, from the next call onwards, industrial heat projects.

A growing European leadership

Zabala Innovation supports its clients throughout all stages of the Innovation Fund process, starting with the compatibility analysis — a key stage in which the project’s main technical and financial aspects are evaluated. This initial diagnosis provides a clear view of the project’s real potential, allowing the client to make an informed decision on whether or not to proceed with the application.

From there, the consultancy offers comprehensive support covering technical and financial design, proposal preparation and submission, liaison with the European Commission, and subsequent monitoring of the selected projects.

“Our participation in the three main lines of the programme closing in 2025 confirms the breadth of our experience and our ability to adapt to new European funding mechanisms,” stresses Correia, who, in explaining the consultancy’s success in the Innovation Fund, points out that “each call under this programme requires a deep understanding of the regulation, the methodology for calculating avoided emissions and the economic logic of the grants.” She concludes: “At Zabala Innovation we know how to combine strategic vision with technical expertise and an understanding of European policy priorities.”