Brussels, 14/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Commission has unveiled the list of 248 infrastructure projects that may qualify for €5.85 billion of funding
On Monday 14 October, the European Commission adopted its list of 248 key energy infrastructure projects that will benefit from accelerated licensing procedures and improved regulatory conditions and may have access to financial support from the Connecting Europe Facility, under which a €5.85 billion budget has been allocated to trans-European energy infrastructure for the period 2014-2020.
These measures will help these projects get implemented faster and make them more attractive to investors involved in integration of the 28 national energy markets in the EU as well as those in neighbouring countries (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine) and those further away such as Algeria, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Israel and Turkmenistan. As well as helping to increase the diversification of supply and put an end to the isolation of the most remote and island countries, benefits will also be made in the climate field because these projects will also enable the grid to uptake increasing amounts of renewables.
This first list of projects of common interest, which will be updated every two years to integrate projects that have become necessary and scrap those that have come obsolete, includes up to 140 projects in the field of electricity transmission and storage, about 100 projects in the field of gas transmission, storage and LNG, and several oil and smart grids projects.
The projects will benefit from a number of advantages that will play an essential role in obtaining the necessary public and private funds, as well as possible funding as from 2014.
As well as accelerated planning and permit granting procedures (binding three-and-a-half-years' time limit) and a single national competent authority that will act as a one-stop-shop for permit granting procedures, there will be fewer administrative costs for the project promoters and authorities due to a more streamlined environmental assessment procedure.
Priority projects will also have to demonstrate increased transparency and improved public participation; increased visibility and attractiveness for investors thanks to an enhanced regulatory framework where costs are allocated to the countries that benefit most from a completed project.
Finally, projects will have the possibility of receiving financial support under the Connecting Europe Facility. Not all projects, however, will be automatically subsidised and many of them will be set up without EU financial assistance. This is the case involving projects in the oil sector.
There are two possible options for obtaining co-financing: 1) Subsidies. The first call for proposals to obtain subsidies under the CEF is expected to be launched at the beginning of 2014; 2) Financial instruments. Enhanced loans, bonds and own capital instruments will be available outside the call for proposals and made available and managed by the EIB.
The endorsement of the final list by the Commission is the result of a thorough identification and evaluation process. Twelve ad-hoc regional working groups, each covering one strategic priority area or corridor, evaluated the proposed projects (electricity in the east, the electricity in the west, gas in the east, gas in the west, southern gas corridor, all connections in Central Europe, offshore electricity network in the North Sea, a connection plan in the Baltic etc.). Representatives of the member states, the European Network of Transmission System Operators for electricity and gas (ENTSO-E and ENTSO-G), national transmission system operators and project promoters, national regulatory authorities, and the Agency for Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) all participated - as members of the Regional Groups - in the preparation of the final list. The process also involved stakeholders, environmental NGOs and citizens by way of the consultations carried out.
For a project to be included in the list, it has to have significant benefits for at least two member states; contribute to market integration and further competition; enhance security of supply, and help attain CO2 emission reduction targets.
The Council and European Parliament have a two-month deadline to accept or reject the list and can call for an additional two-month timeframe to reach a final decision (they do not have, however, a remit for requesting amendments to the list). If all institutions agree to the list in the given time frame, it will enter into force. (EH/trans.fl)
The list of projects is available at the following website:
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/infrastructure/pci/doc/2013_pci_projects_country.pdf