EU Commission Adopts 195 Energy Projects of Common Interest

The European Commission said on Wednesday that it has adopted a list of 195 key energy infrastructure projects that form key building blocks of the EU’s Energy Union.

The Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) on the list will help deliver Europe’s energy and climate objectives and enable the gradual build-up of the Energy Union by integrating the energy markets in Europe and by diversifying the energy sources and transport routes, the EU executive body said in a statement.

Moreover, those projects “will help bring an end to the energy isolation of some Member States.”

The PCI’swill also increase the level of renewables on the grid, reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Arias Canete commented: “Europe's energy transformation will require investments worth billions in strategic infrastructure. This list of projects will help ensure that our funds serve our goal of securing clean and affordable energy for Europeans."

The list includes 108 electricity, 77 gas, 7 oil and 3 smart grids projects. For a project to be included in the list, it had to demonstrate significant benefits for at least two Member States; contribute to market integration and further competition; enhance security of supply, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

A budget of EUR 5.35 B has been allocated to trans-European energy infrastructure under the the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) from 2014-20, helping projects of common interest to get implemented faster and making them more attractive to investors.

The list of PCIs adopted on Wednesday includes the electricity interconnections between Bulgaria and Greece and between Bulgaria and Romania, the gas interconnection Greece-Bulgaria, as well as the interconnectors Bulgaria-Serbia and Bulgaria-Turkey. Modernisation of Bulgaria’s gas transmission system as part of building the Southern Gas Corridor is also among the projects of common interest.

Expansion of the capacity of Chiren underground gas storage and the construction of a gas pipeline system from Bulgaria to Slovakia, currently known as Eastring, are also on the list of PCIs.

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