Brussels, 17/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - With selection criteria for priority projects and funding ideas and better procedures for the granting of permits, the European Commission's draft legislation to promote investment in trans-European energy infrastructure aims to boost the single energy market.
The draft regulation unveiled by the European Commission on Wednesday 19 October to speed up the deployment trans-European energy infrastructure focuses on 12 big infrastructure projects, including an offshore wind farm in the North Sea, gas and electricity grid connections in the Baltic region, gas connectios from north to south in Eastern Europe, connecting up southern Europe's electricity grid with North Africa and a gas pipeline from the Caspian to the EU. It lays down rules for identifying projects of common interest, with a list of criteria ranging from electricty cables to gas pipelines via storage capacity, which will ensure that projects provide European value-added. Certain economies of scale will be required, such as ensuring growth in capacity of at least 500 megawatts for electricity grids and 20% extra capacity for gas. It will have to be demonstrated that the projects are needed for the introduction of the priority trans-European networks and that they are economically, socially and environmentally viable. Each project must involve at least two member states working together. The selection of projects of common European interest will be in two stages. At regional level, the project's promoter will submit proposals to a group of representatives of the member states, regulatory authorities and grid managers, but the final decision about the list of projects of common interest for the whole of the EU will be taken by the Commission. The first list will be drawn up by 31 July 2013 and updated every two years.
To bring the time it takes to launch projects from the current ten years or more to between three and five years, the Commission has unveiled new rules to speed up the granting of planning permits. Member states will have six months to introduce a one stop shop, which will decide on the granting of priority status at national level. This should take no longer than three years and the actual start of the project must not take any longer than two years after that. A European coordinator may be appointed to supervise proceedings.
Most of the €210 billion investment funding needed by 2020 - €140 billion in the electronic transmission system, of which €70 billion is for the land network; €30 billion for the offshore network; and €40 billion for storage and smart grid applications at the level of transmission and distribution; €70 billion for gas pipelines; and €2.5 billion for CO2 transport infrastructure - will be assured by the private sector alone. On the other hand, the Commission envisages co-financing for interconnection projects located in scarcely populated areas or aimed at access to islands, or innovative wind and solar sectors. For the period 2014-2020, an allocation of over €9 billion will be devoted to energy infrastructure under the Connecting Europe Facility. To facilitate such investment, the Commission suggests innovative financing means, ranging from the use of own capital, such as investment funds and risk-sharing instruments such as loans and guarantees, and projects bonds. (EH/transl.jl)