EU backs Neo Performance Materials' permanent-magnet line in Estonia with Innovation Fund
The European Commission approved Innovation Fund financing for Neo Performance Materials to build a permanent-magnet production line in Estonia, capable of 3,000 t annually, with a third earmarked for offshore wind farms.
The European Commission has allocated Innovation Fund money to Neo Performance Materials, adding the company to a group of 77 European net-zero technology projects receiving a total of €3.4 billion. Neo Performance Materials will construct a rare-earth permanent-magnet production line that combines separation, metallisation and magnet manufacturing at its Silmet plant in Sillamäe and its magnet factory in Narva, both located in Ida-Viru County, Estonia.
The facility is designed to output up to 3,000 tonnes of magnets per year, with roughly one-third destined for EU offshore wind farms, and is projected to avoid more than 3.4 million tonnes of CO₂-equivalent emissions over ten years. Although the Silmet plant currently relies on Russian raw materials, the company has pledged to eliminate that dependence. The financing is drawn from revenues of the EU Emissions Trading System, and the final grant agreements will be published in the first quarter of 2027. This follows earlier Innovation Fund support for a methanol plant in Pärnu.
Why it matters
The funding will boost EU clean-energy supply chains and reduce emissions by producing rare-earth magnets for offshore wind.
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