The European Commission is releasing €800 million of funding for projects in the areas of electricity, gas and smart grids infrastructure . The projects will strengthen the EU's internal energy market, enhance security of energy supply, and help provide clean, sustainable energy for Europe. The 2017 call for proposals under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Energy will be open until 12 October.
Proposed projects, which can be either studies or construction works, will be evaluated against several criteria. These include their state of maturity, their cross-border dimension, and to what extent they will remove bottlenecks to energy flow and end energy isolation of EU countries. To be eligible to apply for CEF funding, projects must be designated Projects of Common Interest (PCIs). PCIs are considered essential for completing the EU's internal energy market, and are required to have a significant impact on at least two EU countries.
The CEF provides EU funding for infrastructure projects. It funds energy projects that increase competitiveness, enhance the EU's security of energy supply, and contribute to sustainable development and protection of the environment (for example, by maximising the use of renewable energy and smart energy networks). It is making available a total of €5.35 billion for energy projects in the period 2014-2020. Projects submitted in response to this call will be evaluated in November and December 2017, and the results will be communicated in early 2018.
Source: © European Union, 1995-2017