Around one third of the trans-European energy infrastructure projects in the electricity and gas sectors on the European Union’s fourth list of ‘Projects of Common Interest’ (PCIs) have not yet been approved or are still under consideration, says a new report by the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) published on 11 June.
According to the document, about two thirds of electricity and gas PCIs are already in the permitting phase, under construction or commissioned, therefore 70% of electricity and gas projects are expected to be implemented by 2025.
ACER notes, however, that about 25% of the projects have accumulated delays, while others have been postponed by their promoters. The report also points to a number of PCIs (21 for electricity and three for gas) whose status has not progressed over the past six years (most of them still in the approval phase), demonstrating, according to the regulators, an excess of optimism in the projections of project promoters.
Ultimately, the implementation of more than half of the PCIs progressed according to schedule (or faster) between 1 February 2020 and 31 January 2021.
As in previous years, the main reason most frequently mentioned for delays in the electricity sector is related to permit granting (especially environmental permits). In the gas sector, the most common reason is project financing problems.
See the report: https://bit.ly/2TrqVKG (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)