Brussels, 24/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 24 March, the European Commission authorised Austria to grant €16 million towards an energy-saving project run by Verbund-Austrian Thermal Power GmbH & Co. KG (a subsidiary of the Verbund group) for the combined production of electricity and heat. The project will allow considerable primary energy savings given that electricity and heat will be produced during the same cogeneration cycle instead of being produced separately in two separate installations. The Commission's examination found that the aid was a necessary incentive to develop the project and that the positive environmental effects would outbalance the potentially negative effects on competition. “The latter are in any case limited as the aid amount accounts for a minor share of the beneficiary's production costs”, the Commission states in a press release. (O.L./transl.jl)