European Commission proposes “Net-Zero Industry Act” to accelerate manufacturing of clean technologies

The European Commission (EC), on Thursday, March 16, proposed the Net-Zero Industry Act as part of the Green Deal Industrial Plan. 

Announced by President Ursula von der Leyenv, the initiative aims to scale up the manufacturing of clean technologies and facilitate the transition to clean energy in the EU. 

President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, says, “We need a regulatory environment that allows us to scale up the clean energy transition quickly. The Net-Zero Industry Act will do just that.” 

She continues, “It will create the best conditions for those sectors that are crucial for us to reach net zero by 2050: technologies like wind turbines, heat pumps, solar panels, renewable hydrogen as well as CO2 storage.” 

“Demand is growing in Europe and globally, and we are acting now to make sure we can meet more of this demand with European supply,” adds von der Leyen.  

Why the Net-Zero Industry Act?

The Net-Zero Industry Act aims to strengthen the resilience and competitiveness of net-zero technologies manufacturing, attract investments, and accelerate progress towards the EU’s 2030 climate and energy targets, and the transition to climate neutrality.

According to the European Commission, the Net-Zero Industry Act, in conjunction with the proposal for a European Critical Raw Materials Act and the reform of the electricity market design, establishes a clear European framework for decreasing the EU’s dependence on heavily concentrated imports.

The proposed legislation addresses technologies that will make a significant contribution to decarbonisation, including:

• Solar photovoltaic and solar thermal 
• Onshore wind and offshore renewable energy
• Batteries and storage 
• Heat pumps and geothermal energy 
• Electrolysers and fuel cells 
• Biogas/biomethane 
• Carbon capture, utilisation and storage, and grid technologies 
• Sustainable alternative fuels technologies 
• Advanced technologies to produce energy from nuclear processes with minimal waste from the fuel cycle, small modular reactors, and related best-in-class fuels. 

“These Net Zero technologies identified in the Annex to the Regulation will receive particular support and are subject to the 40 per cent domestic production benchmark,” says the EC. 

The Net Zero Industry Act will reduce the administrative burden to set up projects, simplify permit-granting processes, set an EU objective for carbon storage, encourage sustainable public procurement or auctions, and establish Net Zero Industry Academies and regulatory sandboxes.