Germany launches scheme to help industry pay for carbon-free production

FRANKFURT, June 5 (Reuters) - Germany is launching a programme that will make available tens of billions of euros for firms facing substantial energy costs, in a bid to help its challenged industrial sector fund a shift towards carbon-neutral production techniques.

As part of the process, companies will be able to apply for support payments, which the government said will be a mid double-digit billion euro amount overall, the economy ministry said on Monday.

Companies have two months to express interest in the process, aimed at fulfilling Germanys pledge to become carbon neutral by 2045, before the actual auction process will start, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said, adding that lowest bids would win.

Germanys industry is facing pressure from a toxic mix of high costs for raw materials, energy and labour, while other regions, most notably the United States, is luring European companies with lavish subsides.

Habeck said that companies emitting 10 kilotonnes of CO2 or more a year would be eligible for the so-called climate protection contracts.