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(BRUSSELS) – EUR 578 m of EU money is to be channelled into a major electricity interconnection project between Spain and France, as part of the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility infrastructure investment instrument.
The award is part of a larger investment of EUR 873 million in key European energy infrastructure projects agreed by EU Member States on Thursday.
The largest Connecting Europe Facility-Energy grant ever awarded is seen as decisive for 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.
The 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%. Such a leap will allow for an enhanced incorporation of renewable energies, thus contributing strongly to the clean energy transition and to the EU’s clean energy transition policy.
Properly interconnected electricity lines and gas pipelines are seen as forming the backbone of an integrated European energy market anchored on the principle of solidarity. The Commission says that supporting the 17 selected electricity and gas projects under the announcement signals Europe’s willingness to upgrade and make the European energy system more competitive that will ultimately deliver cheaper and secure energy to all European consumers.
“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,” said Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete: “Only a fully interconnected market will improve Europe’s security of supply, reducing the dependence of single suppliers and giving consumers more choice. An energy infrastructure which is fit for purpose is also essential for renewable energy sources to thrive and for delivering on the Paris Agreement on climate change.”
17 projects in total have been selected for funding, including 8 in the electricity sector (EU support 680 million) and 9 in the gas sector (EU support 193 million); as well as 4 related to construction works (EU support 723 million) and 13 to studies (EU support 150 million).
SuedOstLink, one of the largest German energy infrastructure projects, will receive 70 million for activities to enable the construction works to start. The project consists of 580 kilometres of high-voltage cables laid fully underground. The power line will create an urgently needed link between the wind power generated in the north and the consumption centres in the south of Germany. It will thus ensure better integration of renewable energies, as well as enhance the cross-border exchange of energy with neighbouring EU Member States.
A grant of 27 million will also be allocated to support the construction of a new 400 kV internal power line between Cernavoda and Stalpu (RO), which will contribute to increase the interconnection capacity between Romania and Bulgaria and help integrate wind power from the Black Sea coast.
In the gas sector, the Connecting Europe Facility will support infrastructure projects important for two island Member States. First, the introduction of natural gas in Cyprus through the CyprusGas2EU project (EU support 101 million) will end the current energy isolation of the Cyprus, bring diversification to a region mostly dominated by one single source of supply and help reduce air pollution and emissions by allowing switching from heavy fuel oil to gas for power generation. It will also improve energy security and price competitiveness. Secondly, 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. This interconnector will link Malta to the Italian market, enhancing the island’s security of supply in gas in similar way a sub-sea cable funded by an earlier EU programme has done for the electricity sector.
Funding will also be allocated to a study on the permit-granting process of the STEP project (1.7 million), which aims at creating a new gas interconnection point between France and Spain to increase the bidirectional flows between the Iberian Peninsula and France and improve the interconnection with the internal gas market through the development of the Eastern gas axis.
The Commission says the EU will also invest in studies to support the synchronisation of the Baltics with the central European electricity network. Today’s decision is seen as of key importance for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and Poland to agree on the way forward to find, by the end of May 2018 at the latest, a solution on the best way to synchronise the Baltic States’ electricity grid with the continental Europe system, in line with the results of the ministerial meeting from December 2017.
List of all projects receiving EU support under the current call
Overview of projects financed by Connecting Europe Facility Energy in 2014-2016
