EU Member States approved the Commission’s proposal to invest €22.1 million in seven selected projects that contribute to the development of connections between transport and energy infrastructure in Europe.
The selected projects will receive funding from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for the deployment of sustainable and efficient transport and energy infrastructure. The first CEF Synergy call, launched in September 2016 with a total budget of €40 million, triggered nine eligible project proposals, of which seven were selected for funding. The EU’s financial contribution for the selected projects is 60% of the eligible costs, which includes the 10% bonus for synergies between the two sectors.
Among the selected projects is the CYnergy project, coordinated by OceanFinance, an action opting the establishment of a Natural Gas (NG) system for the island of Cyprus, as well as the optimization of the upstream and downstream NG supply chain. The project, with a total budget of €7.47m, is connected to the Project of Common Interest (PCI) which is promoting the development of an LNG storage facility in Cyprus.
Following the announcement of the Member States approval, EU Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc stated: “European transport still depends on oil for 94% of its energy needs. That is why the EU is investing in seven projects to speed up the deployment of alternative energy sources, with a special focus on electrification and multimodal transport“.
In the same spirit, EU Commissioner for Climate Action & Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete, noted: “Enabling synergies between the transport and energy sectors will enhance the effectiveness of EU funding and will contribute to the further integration of the internal energy market”.
Their statements were echoed by the Director of the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA), Dirk Beckers: “The selected projects represent innovative investments in Trans-European Networks and will contribute to the EU’s economic competitiveness”.
The individual grant agreements with INEA is scheduled to be signed by August 2017.