EU pitches renewables-led energy independence plan at Davos

“Europe is in the race for the key technologies of tomorrow”, remarked European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Her address at the World Economic Forum in Davos was scattered with references to European independence and the role of technological innovation in that regard.

Von der Leyen went on to propose a plan to make Europe more resilient to external push and pull. A bevy of homegrown European clean tech companies was part of it.

A day later, Ekaterina Zaharieva – the EU commissioner for startups, research and innovation – told a Davos audience about a new €5bn Scale-up Europe Fund. Here too, clean energy has a seat at the table.

What does the new fund say about Europe’s pursuit of autonomy and where do things stand?

Now hiring

At Davos, Zaharieva announced an important milestone for the scale-up fund. “We’ve managed to raise €2.5bn”, she said. Halfway there.

The fund’s thematic focus is deliberately broad, inclusive of but not limited to clean energy. Its disclosures list ‘clean and secure’ energy technologies as one of several themes the fund will target. That being said, several other eligible industries often have renewable energy applications. Materials and computing, for example.

Directly and indirectly, Europe’s new fund targets a clean tech-led build out in the hopes of improving strategic autonomy. The idea, documents show, is to lead or co-lead equity investment rounds in excess of €100m at growth stage companies.

Fund raising has been in the works for a few months. In October last year, the Commission, led by Zaharieva, hosted a group of investors in Brussels.

That included Denmark’s EIFO (a sovereign wealth fund) and Novo Holdings, Dutch pension fund ABP and Swedish family endowment manager Wallenberg Investments among others.

These are now the fund’s founding investors. Top executives from Novo Holdings and Wallenberg Investments joined Zaharieva at the Davos panel, proclaiming their support.

With investors on-board, Europe’s new fund is now on the lookout for a manager. A call for managers to express interest went out late last year. By April, a decision will be made. By summer this year, inaugural allocations are expected.

Renewables rollout 

 The EU’s top brass seems convinced that their path to urgent autonomy passes through clean energy. Numbers back up their thesis.

New research from energy think tank Ember shows that last year, wind and solar energy collectively produced more electricity for EU members than fossil fuels. This, for Europe, is a first. A structural shift in the EU’s electricity sources in underway. Solar power in particular, has led the way. 

“This milestone moment shows just how rapidly the EU is moving towards a power system backed by wind and solar”, commented senior analyst and report author Dr. Beatrice Petrovich.

“As fossil fuel dependencies feed instability on the global stage, the stakes of transitioning to clean energy are clearer than ever”, she added.

As far as motivations for a European renewable energy rollout go, weaning off Russian fossil fuel dependence is perhaps the most powerful. Europe’s REPowerEU plan – to rapidly deploy of green energy – was a cornerstone of its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In December 2025, the EU reached an agreement to phase out Russian gas imports. “REPowerEU has delivered”, Von der Leyen affirmed at the time.

That being said, Europe’s transition to secure and independent energy is still very much a work in progress. For instance, a reduction in Russian gas dependence has paved the way for an American one. LNG imports from the US have doubled since 2021.

“Gas not only makes the EU more vulnerable to energy blackmail, it’s also driving up prices”, warns Petrovich. She reckons the EU’s immediate priority should be reducing the need for gas (for instance, in firming) in European electricity flows.

Europe’s new growth fund could play a role here. By backing innovation across clean tech supply chains, the fund could finance a tech-led strengthening of its transition infrastructure. In so doing, it could help reduce Europe’s fossil fuel dependence, irrespective of its source. In its pursuit of strategic autonomy, Brussels seems hopeful that a new batch of homegrown climate-technologists, will furnish a trump card it urgently needs.