EIC Board urges faster industrial deployment of deep tech to shore up Europe’s energy resilience

Brussels, June 24th 2026

Summary

›The EIC Board urges rapid deployment of European deep tech across the energy system to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels.
›Europe still sources more than half of its energy from imports, leaving strategic autonomy exposed to external shocks.
›The EIC portfolio includes nearly 100 companies working across 12 energy value chain areas from generation to supply chain resilience.
›The Board calls for continuity of funding, faster permitting, simpler regulation, stronger industrial demand and closer public-private collaboration.
›Implementation will require bridging grant, equity and project finance gaps and aligning EU instruments such as the EIC, EIC Fund, STEP and the new Scaleup Europe Fund.

EIC Board calls for faster deployment of deep tech to strengthen Europe’s energy resilience

On 24 June 2026 the European Innovation Council (EIC) Board published a statement urging faster industrial deployment of European deep technology across the whole energy system. The Board frames the acceleration of deployment as a strategic necessity. Its argument is straightforward: geopolitical shocks over recent years exposed Europe’s vulnerability because more than half of the EU’s energy consumption still originates from imported fossil fuels. The Board says deep tech — from advanced materials to long duration storage and low carbon fuels — must be scaled quickly to reduce strategic exposure and strengthen economic resilience.

Why the Board issued the statement

The EIC Board links recent geopolitical and market disruptions to a structural debate about energy security and industrial competitiveness. It cites two related problems. First, dependence on imported fossil fuels leaves the Union vulnerable to supply shocks and price volatility. Second, moving from laboratory breakthroughs to industrial-scale deployment remains the weak link in Europe’s innovation lifecycle. The Board highlights historical patterns where crises accelerate technological adoption but cautions that the right policy and financial conditions must be created to translate innovation into industrial capacity.

European energy investment needs:The Board references Commission estimates that energy investments will need to reach roughly €660 billion annually between 2026 and 2030 and rise to around €695 billion per year for 2031 to 2040 to meet transition objectives. Those headline numbers underscore the scale of capital and coordination required to industrialise deep tech solutions.

What the EIC already backs and where it sees opportunity

The Board points to an existing pipeline of innovation within the EIC portfolio. Nearly 100 companies supported by EIC instruments are developing technologies across twelve areas of the energy value chain. These range from generation and storage to hydrogen, renewable fuels, transmission, advanced materials and supply chain resilience. The Board argues Europe’s comparative advantage will come from scaling homegrown deep tech rather than relying on imported solutions.

Energy value chain area	Representative technologies or roles	Deployment challenge
Clean energy generation	Advanced wind, solar technologies, small modular nuclear concepts	Large capital expenditure and long permitting cycles
Energy storage	Batteries, long duration storage (mechanical, thermal, chemical)	Grid integration and seasonal storage economics
Hydrogen	Electrolysers, green hydrogen production and handling	Low-carbon power availability and infrastructure build-out
Renewable fuels and chemicals	Power-to-X, sustainable aviation fuels, renewable feedstocks	Scaling pilot plants to industrial volumes
Electricity transmission and grid tech	Power electronics, smart grid controls, HVDC components	Network upgrade costs and regulatory adaptation
Advanced materials	Lightweight composites, high-performance alloys, catalysts	Domestic production capacity and recycling
Supply chain resilience	Domestic component manufacturing, critical raw material recycling	Sourcing, certification and industrial scaling
Energy efficiency and demand-side tools	Smart controls, industrial process optimisation	Adoption across legacy installations
Digital enabling technologies	Simulation, digital twins, cybersecure OT systems	Data standards and interoperability
Grid-flexibility and management	Virtual power plants, demand response platforms	Market rules and price signals
Heat systems	District heating, heat storages and heat pumps	Urban planning and retrofit finance
Niche and frontier tech	Advanced fusion, novel nuclear fuels, frontier storage chemistries	Very long R&D timelines and large capital needs

Board recommendations and the core ask

The EIC Board’s topline request is to accelerate the industrial deployment of European deep tech across the energy system. It lists five policy and ecosystem priorities to create the conditions for scaling:

1) Continuity of funding across the innovation journey 2) Simplified and proportionate regulatory frameworks 3) Faster permitting and planning for infrastructure 4) Stronger industrial demand through public procurement and corporate offtakes 5) Closer, earlier collaboration between innovators, investors, industry and policymakers

Why funding continuity matters:Deep tech companies typically require staged capital that moves from grants for early research to patient equity and later to project finance for industrial plants. The Board warns of a “valley” between proof of concept and full commercial deployment where projects often stall because instruments are not aligned.

How deployment gaps map to existing EU instruments

The EIC Board explicitly calls for clearer bridges between EU-level instruments. That includes grant programmes, the EIC Fund equity investments, STEP Scale Up investments, the Innovation Fund, and national public finance. The message is pragmatic: without an intentional pipeline that links grants, equity, and project financing the most promising breakthroughs will fail to reach industrial scale.

EIC Fund and STEP Scale Up:The EIC Fund provides equity support alongside the EIC Accelerator and the STEP Scale Up scheme targets EUR 10–30 million equity investments to catalyse larger rounds. These are meant to crowd in private capital, but the Board stresses that private co-investment alone will not solve capital intensity or long payback in certain energy deployments.

Scaleup Europe Fund and leveraging private capital:The new Scaleup Europe Fund is intended as a late‑stage, growth vehicle to invest in strategic technology companies and complement the EIC Fund. The Board implies that such instruments are necessary to fund maturation beyond the seed and series A stages into industrial leadership.

Practical obstacles to faster deployment

The EIC Board’s assessment is realistic about where blockages occur. Four obstacles dominate the discussion in both the statement and broader EU debate:

- Permitting and planning: long approval timelines for factories, grid works and storage sites increase cost and investor uncertainty. - Market pull and demand signals: early offtakers or public procurement are often required to de-risk first industrial plants. - Supply chain and materials: moving from prototypes to mass production requires secure access to materials, component manufacturing and recycling infrastructure. - Financing structure: many energy deployments need blended finance and lengthy horizons that do not match typical VC risk profiles.

Permitting acceleration proposals:The Commission has proposed measures to speed up permit granting in specific areas. The Board wants Member States to operationalise accelerated processes for energy-critical projects while maintaining environmental and social safeguards.

What the Board does not promise and why to be cautious

The EIC Board is careful to present deployment as feasible but not guaranteed. Important caveats deserve emphasis. Many deep tech pathways carry technical risk and long development timelines. Large‑scale deployment requires not only money and permits but also industrial partners, durable supply chains and in some cases new regulatory standards. There is also international competition; other jurisdictions are mobilising large public budgets and industrial policy measures to secure leadership in energy technologies. Finally, dual‑use and defence considerations in certain technologies can raise additional export, investment screening and security constraints.

Policy actions the Board wants, with implementation levers

Action	Why it matters	Primary implementation levers
Continuity of funding across the full innovation chain	Avoids stall between research, scale-up and industrial projects	Coordination between EIC grants, EIC Fund equity, STEP, Innovation Fund, national schemes and Scaleup Europe Fund
Simplify regulatory frameworks	Reduces compliance costs and uncertainty for new technologies	Targeted regulatory sandboxes, faster standardisation, proportionate rules for demonstrations
Speed up permitting	Cuts lead times for factories, grids and infrastructures	National permit acceleration, one-stop-shops, strategic corridors for energy projects
Mobilise industrial demand	Creates early markets to de-risk first industrial plants	Public procurement, corporate offtake agreements, industrial pilots and cluster buy-ins
Strengthen investor collaboration	Attracts patient capital and matches financing structure to project timelines	Trusted Investor Network, blended finance vehicles, EIB engagement, bespoke guarantees

How industry, investors and policymakers must work differently

The Board’s position is collaborative. It asks industry to create credible offtake plans and demonstration routes. It asks investors to accept longer horizons for certain infrastructure‑heavy bets. And it asks policymakers to remove unnecessary friction in regulation and permitting while using public procurement and industrial demand to accelerate commercial scale‑up. In short, the EIC Board wants a systems approach: financial instruments alone are insufficient unless market and regulatory architecture are aligned.

Trusted Investor Network and crowding in private capital:The EIC’s Trusted Investor Network already gathers over 100 investors representing hundreds of billions in assets. The Board highlights such initiatives as central to mobilising co-investments but notes they must be paired with public instruments to close gaps for capital‑intensive energy projects.

Risks, trade-offs and unanswered questions

The EIC Board statement is an intervention in policy design rather than a technical plan. It raises several open questions policy makers must answer: which instruments will fund multi‑billion euro demonstration plants, who takes initial industrial risk, how to ensure permitting reforms respect environmental assessment and public consultation, and how to avoid simply shifting dependencies from fossil fuels to suppliers of critical minerals. The Board recognises these trade‑offs and urges integrated policy making rather than ad hoc measures.

There is also the perennial question of timing. Deep tech energy projects have long lead times. Even with accelerated permitting and blended finance, many technologies will not materially affect EU energy security in the next 12 to 24 months. The immediate utility lies in technologies that can be deployed quickly to reduce demand or replace specific imported fuels, while mid and long term bets require patient capital and industrial mobilisation.

What to watch next

The Board’s statement sets the terms for forthcoming political and budgetary debates. Key signals to monitor in the coming months include:

- How the Commission and Member States propose to stitch EIC grants, EIC Fund equity, STEP Scale Up and Scaleup Europe Fund resources together. - Any concrete measures or legislative steps to accelerate permitting for strategic energy projects. - New procurement or offtake programs that create demand for European technology. - The willingness of large industrial players and banks to participate in blended financing for demonstration and early‑industrial plants. - Progress on supply chain policies for critical raw materials and recycling capacity.

Annex — governance and authorship

The EIC Board is composed of 20 independent experts from across Europe’s innovation ecosystem, plus the Board President. The statement reflects the collective perspective of those Board members and was published by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) on 24 June 2026. The EIC provides a mapping of EIC‑backed energy companies supporting the statement’s claims.

Bottom line

The EIC Board’s statement is a concerted call to action. It is not a guarantee that scaling will succeed but a realistic plea that Europe must align finance, regulation, permitting and demand to turn deep tech into industrial capacity. Implementation will require political will, cross‑institutional coordination and patience from investors. Those who welcome the statement should treat it as the beginning of a harder conversation about trade‑offs and the practical steps needed to industrialise clean energy innovation at scale.