The European Commission is allocating nearly €1.25 billion in Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding to 41 cross-border energy infrastructure projects that have been identified as Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) and Projects of Mutual Interest (PMIs) under the Trans-European Network for Energy (TEN-E) policy framework, according to EU's release.
This is the largest call for proposals under the current CEF Energy programme, both in terms of applications received and funding granted, exceeding the initial indicative allocation of €850 million. It is also the first call under the revised TEN-E Regulation, which includes hydrogen and offshore grid projects.
In total, the funding will support 5 feasibility studies and 36 construction projects. Nearly €750 million of the funding is earmarked for eight electricity grid projects, including offshore and smart grids. The largest grant of €645 million will support the Bornholm Energy Island project to build an innovative new hybrid interconnector in the Baltic Sea, connecting Denmark and Germany and integrating 3 GW of offshore wind capacity. Another grant of almost €33 million will go to Danube InGrid, a cross-border smart grid project between Hungary and Slovakia, which will integrate renewable energy and balance the system more efficiently. The other six projects, located in Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Slovakia, and Spain, will receive grants for supporting studies.
To support the decarbonization of EU industry, hydrogen infrastructure will benefit from €250 million in funding for 21 development studies. This will help mitigate the investment risks associated with this emerging market and complement the framework for hydrogen policy introduced with the Hydrogen and Decarbonised Gas package.
The funding is earmarked for projects in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden: in particular, the BarMar-H2med project between Spain and France, backbone projects in Italy, Portugal and Spain, and hydrogen corridors and routes in the Baltic Sea region.
Furthermore, €250 million will be allocated to the construction of three projects and the financing of nine preparatory studies for CO2 infrastructure. The Prinos storage facility in northern Greece will receive almost €120 million, contributing to the first value chain for carbon capture and storage in the southeastern Mediterranean. A second grant of €55 million is earmarked for construction work on the North Sea L10 CO2 storage site on the Dutch continental shelf. A third grant of nearly €12 million will be awarded to the Norne CO2 facility in Denmark.
CO2 projects financed by the Connecting Europe Facility are expected to contribute to the goal of achieving an annual CO2 storage capacity of 50 million tonnes by 2030, as highlighted in the Net-Zero Industry Act.