Brussels, 18/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission announced on Friday 18 March that it had opened the first call for proposals for 2016 under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to help finance key EU energy infrastructure projects. The envelope for this first call for proposals is €200 million.
The deadline set for the submission of applications is 28 April. A decision on the proposals selected is expected to be announced by the end of July.
To be eligible, projects must feature among the projects of common interest (PCI), the revised list of which was adopted in November 2015 (see EUROPE 11433). This list contains 195 infrastructure projects which are considered to be crucial for the completion of the energy internal market and which must bring substantial benefits to at least two member states, improve security of supply, contribute to market integration, enhance competition or increase sustainability.
The total funding for 2016 under the CEF is €800 million.
EU financing for energy infrastructure under the CEF is €5.35 billion for the 2014-2020 period. The grants will contribute to carrying out both studies and construction works. Oil infrastructure projects, however, are excluded from any form of financial assistance.
To receive from assistance for carrying out construction work, projects will have to meet a number of criteria: the cost-benefit analysis must demonstrate significant gains in security of supply, solidarity or technological innovation.
The level of aid cannot exceed 50% of eligible costs. In exceptional circumstances, however, where a project contributes significantly to security of supply or enhances energy solidarity between member states, EU support may be increased to a maximum of 75% of the costs.
Under the CEF, €647 million was allocated to 34 proposals for grants for PCI in 2014 then €366 million was allocated and 35 proposals were selected to receive grants in 2015. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)