EU Innovation Fund Selects Holosolis 5-GW Solar Factory in €3.4B Round

• The European Commission selected 77 net-zero projects for about €3.4 billion in EU Innovation Fund grants on Oct. 19, 2026.
• Holosolis' 5-GW TOPCon solar factory in France made the list; the EU wants home factories to meet 40% of its net-zero technology needs by 2030.
• Holosolis and other winners now negotiate grant agreements, with results due in the first quarter of 2027.

The European Commission on Oct. 19 selected 77 net-zero technology projects to share about €3.4 billion ($3.8 billion) in EU Innovation Fund grants. The list includes a 5-GW solar cell and module factory that Holosolis SAS plans in Hambach, France.

The project, SOLAR4EU, will make n-type TOPCon cells and modules and create more than 2,000 jobs, the Commission said. It did not publish grant amounts for individual projects. Holosolis said in November 2025 that it had secured more than €220 million in public and private financing. It also reported purchase letters of intent for over 20 GW.

The Commission links the fund to its Net-Zero Industry Act. The law aims for EU factories to meet at least 40% of annual deployment needs for strategic net-zero technologies by 2030.

The selection in numbers

• 77 projects in 23 countries, picked from 358 applications, a success rate of 21.5% (list.solar calculation).
• 12 clean-tech manufacturing projects were selected, requesting almost €895 million ($1 billion), covering solar panels, heat pumps, electrolysers, EV batteries and magnets.
• €539 million ($605 million) for four EV battery and component projects, including PowerCo's Spanish plant for up to 27 GWh of LFP cells a year.
• 9 GWh a year of LFP cells from a new LG Energy Solution Wroclaw line in Poland.
• 40 MW / 400 MWh solid flow battery in the TALOS microgrid on Crete, one of five intra-day storage projects.
• 15,000 tonnes a year of battery-grade lithium carbonate capacity at Eramet's Ageli geothermal plant in France.
• About €44 million ($50 million) per project on average, while manufacturing projects requested €74.6 million each (list.solar calculation).

Two more picks touch solar. Umicore SA will run a pilot line in Belgium for reusable germanium substrates for high-performance solar cells. EDF Renouvelables plans a battery in Perquie, France, to absorb surplus solar output.

Holosolis' website says building work starts in 2027, with first modules in 2028. At full capacity, the site is to make more than 10 million panels a year.

"These projects show that Europe’s innovators are turning climate ambition into industrial leadership," EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said in a statement.

Winners now negotiate grant agreements with CINEA, the EU's climate and infrastructure agency. The Commission expects to announce the results in the first quarter of 2027. Its next call is due in early December 2026 and will include a €1 billion clean-tech manufacturing topic.