The European Commission is allocating nearly €126 million in grants from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to help finance three cross-border renewable energy projects (C-RES).
The funding will support two German–Polish district heating projects and one onshore wind park near the Latvia–Lithuania border.
In more detail, €70 million will help develop a climate-neutral district heating system in the cities of Görlitz in Germany and Zgorzelec in Poland; while more than €11 million will help replacing coal-fired units in Slubice, in Poland, with sustainable biomass boilers and start a deep decarbonisation of Frankfurt’s district heating.
Lastly, over €44 million has been allocated to a project aimed to build around 30 wind turbines and produce up to 680 GWh of renewable electricity per year, integrating more renewables into the Baltic electricity system.
The Commission sees this as a key contribution to build the EU’s Energy Union. The projects are expected to play a vital role in enhancing cooperation between the EU Member States, boosting the deployment of renewables, strengthening the EU’s energy security and, as a result, Europe’s competitiveness.
The new CEF programme facilitates financial support to foster EU Member State cooperation in the field of renewable energy. It introduces, in particular, the concept of cross-border projects in the field of renewable energy. In order to meet the EU decarbonisation targets, the EU Member States committed to collectively achieve a share of renewable energy in the EU’s final energy consumption by 2030. This share is 42.5% binding target and additional 2.5% aspirational target according to the revised Renewable Energy Directive.
To qualify as a cross-border renewables project and benefit from funding, a project must fulfil the criteria set out in the CEF Regulation, which refers to the existence of a cooperation arrangement between EU countries, as well as the cost savings and potential overall net-benefits that the project would provide. The next CEF Energy call for cross-border renewable energy project proposals is expected in November 2026.
Only projects with the CB RES status can apply for funding under the CB RES window of CEF Energy.
The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Energy supports key cross-border energy infrastructure projects across the EU. Under the CB RES framework, the programme also helps advance renewable energy projects that promote cooperation between Member States and deliver benefits in terms of sustainability, security of supply and market integration.
Learn more about approved projects in the CB RES Transparency Platform
