The European Commission (EC) has outlined its plans for the EU 2021-2027 budget, proposing €8.65 billion to be invested in the energy sector through the Connecting Europe Facility, with one of the key points being promotion of Member States’ cooperation in integrating cross-border renewable energy projects.
Overall, the €42.27 billion worth facility supports investment in cross-border infrastructures in the transport, energy and digital sectors.
For energy, the focus is on completing priority sections of the energy networks essential for the internal market. It also seeks to deliver smart and digitised energy grids, so as to achieve interconnection targets and improve security of supply.
Following the announcement of post-2020 EU budget plans, a group of utilities, investors and non-government organizations sent a letter to the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, asking for more money to be invested in zero-emission mobility and power generation when allocating the EU budget after 2020.
The group said that the Commission’s intention for future transport-related spending to be focused on “innovative infrastructure solutions” with a strong focus on e-mobility, smart grids and energy storage now needs to be translated into binding rules for all projects funded by the EU.
“The Commission has already pledged priority to electromobility. Now it needs to put its money where its mouth is and commit in writing to allocate EU funds to zero-emission transport, renewables and smarter infrastructure,” said Samuel Kenny , transport officer with Transport & Environment, one of the organisations urging President Juncker to commit more strongly to decarbonization goals.
Ocean Energy Europe is also one of the signatories of the letter sent to the European Commission President Juncker.