On Friday 23 June, the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) published two reports and a recommendation on energy infrastructure in the European Union.
According to the monitoring report on projects of common interest (PCIs), the total cost of these projects will amount to €81.2 billion in 2023, which is up 10% on the previous year. Most of the projects – 90% in the electricity sector and 100% in the gas sector – are at an advanced stage and should be operational by 2030. However, some of them have been delayed as a result of obstacles to authorisation.
The risks faced by transmission system operators are largely mitigated by national regulatory measures. Project promoters have shown limited interest in the additional incentives offered by European regulations and have only requested them in a few exceptional cases. On the other hand, there is significant demand for investment in cross-border cost allocation, covering more than 40% of electricity and gas transmission projects with a total value of €16.5 billion.
To address these challenges, ACER recommends a thorough assessment of priority projects that have not been advanced by regional groups, improved investment appraisals and a consistent approach to risk assessment linked to project promoters across Member States. It also suggests further aligning the interests of transport network operators and consumers more closely by using benefit-based incentives, and encourages project developers to submit complete, high-quality investment applications, particularly in relation to interdependent projects.
Finally, ACER advocates an efficient, coherent, pragmatic and flexible approach to the processing of investment requests and the allocation of costs between beneficiary countries. These recommendations are intended to facilitate the assessment, approval and implementation of energy projects of European significance and will support a smooth energy transition within the EU.
Read the documents: https://aeur.eu/f/7qn (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)