EIMIN: EUR 42 million to support industrial greening
The European Investment Bank has welcomed the €42 million investment programme of the European Union's (EU) Modernisation Fund (EUMF), prepared by the Ministry of Economy and Innovation (EIMIN), to focus on the deployment of decarbonisation technologies in industrial companies. It is estimated that these investments will save around 2,607 GWh of energy and reduce around 489,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in our country by 2035.
"Green industrial transformation is one of the things we are focusing on. The €42 million investment will help our industrial companies adopt technologies that contribute to decarbonisation and increase energy efficiency, which will not only help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but will also allow them to remain competitive and resilient to fluctuations in the market price of energy resources. Last year we spent around €330 million on industrial greening as part of our €1 billion plan to strengthen Lithuania's economy. We will continue to invest in this area," said Aušrinė Armonaitė, Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
The investment programme, approved by the European Investment Bank, will help Lithuania's manufacturing sector to continue its transformation towards a less polluting sector. These investments will make an important contribution to both reducing the climate impact of industry and increasing the resilience of the economy by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as energy consumption and improving production efficiency.
Industry consumes an average of 4.2 TWh of electricity per year, equivalent to around €443 million depending on energy prices. The public investment aims to help industry save up to 261 GWh per year.
"These investments are in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change and the EU's renewed Green Deal target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030. Of all economic sectors, improving industrial energy efficiency will have the biggest impact on achieving these renewed Green Deal targets," said Ieva Valeškaitė, Vice-Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
The investments will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 489,000 tonnes by 2035, or an average of 48,000 tonnes per year. This represents 2% of total industrial greenhouse gas emissions. On average, one person contributes 4.8 tonnes of emissions per year through their consumption, so the funds will reduce GHG emissions by the equivalent of around 10,000 people per year.
The €42 million will be used for the deployment of decarbonisation technologies in industrial companies. The maximum grant will be €10 million. The aid intensity per applicant is 30% of the eligible costs, which can be increased by 10 percentage points for medium-sized enterprises and by a further 10 percentage points for small enterprises.
The call for industrial companies to apply under the European Investment Bank approved investment scheme is expected to be launched in the fourth quarter of this year.
Last updated: 18-10-2024
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