EU member states have agreed on the Commission’s proposal to invest €873 million ($1.1 billion) in European energy infrastructure projects.
The EU funding for the chosen projects comes from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the European support programme for trans-European infrastructure.
Of the 17 projects selected for funding 8 are in the electricity sector (EU support €680 million) and 9 in the gas sector (EU support €193 million).
In the electricity sector, a grant of €578 million ($717.4 million), the largest Connecting Europe Facility-Energy grant ever awarded, will be decisive the construction of the Biscay Gulf France-Spain interconnection.
The new electricity link will better integrate the Iberian Peninsula into the internal electricity market. The project, with a 280 km long off-shore section, incorporates technologically innovative solutions regarding the design of the route over the Capbreton canyon and the French land section, which is fully underground. This new link will nearly double the interconnection capacity between both countries – increasing it from 2,800 MW to 5,000 MW, and will bring Spain closer to the 10% interconnection target from the current level of 6%.
Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete , said: “The construction of the Biscay Gulf France-Spain interconnection marks an important step towards ending the isolation of the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of the European energy market.”
In addition, the gas sector will get support for the introduction of natural gas in Cyprus through the CyprusGas2EU project, and a €3.7 million grant will be awarded for a study on the Malta-Italy Gas Interconnection which aims to end Malta’s isolation from the European Gas network.