Financing cross-border cooperation

With a budget of approximately €875 million for the period 2021-2027, this Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Energy funding complements other EU renewable energy funding opportunities, but is focusing on cross-border cooperation that helps EU countries achieving the 2030 renewable energy targets in a more cost-efficient manner.

Projects in non-EU countries may also be eligible if they comply with article 11 of the Renewable Energy Directive.

In order for a project to become a cross-border renewables (CB RES) project and to benefit from funding, it should fulfil the criteria of the CEF Regulation (EU/2021/1153) which refers to the existence of a cooperation arrangement between EU countries, as well as cost savings and potential overall net-benefits that the project would provide. Further details are provided in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/342 and its related Staff Working SWD (2021) 429.

The 4^th call to apply for CB RES status was launched on 3 September 2024 and is open until 7 January 2025. More information about ongoing and past calls can be found on the European Climate Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) website.

Following the evaluation of the projects and the positive opinion of the CB RES Expert Group, the Commission adopted the third list of CB RES projects in July 2024. It includes the projects from the 3 adopted lists

• ELWIND is a joint hybrid offshore wind park between Estonia and Latvia with a total capacity up to 1 GW
• Goerlitz Zgorzelec, a cross-border district heating in a twin city at the border between Germany and Poland that aims to replace all its energy sources with a combination of renewable energy technologies such as biomass, heat pumps and solar thermal
• CICERONE (Alliance Cross-Border-European Green Hydrogen Value Chain) aims to set up a cross-border European green hydrogen value chain between Italy, Spain and Germany. Renewable electricity produced in Spain and Italy will be converted to green hydrogen, and transported to the Netherlands and Germany
• SLOWP (Saare-Liivi Offshore Wind Park) is a joint hybrid offshore wind park between Estonia and Luxembourg, with a total capacity of 1.2 GW
• ULP-RES WP (Utilitas Lode-Penuja RES wind park) is an onshore wind park between Estonia and Latvia, consisting of new generation wind turbines with joint connection to the transmission grid in Latvia, with total power production capacity of of 200 MW
• TMNHSA (Turnu Magurele – Nikopol Hydraulic Structures Assembly) project aims to build twin run-of-the-river hydropower plants with a total capacity of 840 MW on the Danube at the level of the cities Nikopol, in Bulgaria, and Turnu Măgurele, in Romania
• BEI (Bornholm Energy Island) is a hybrid project that consists of 2 offshore wind farms of 3 GW each, to be connected to converter stations on the Danish island of Bornholm. The island will be connected to both Denmark (mainland) and Germany through high-voltage direct current cables
• PONTIS (Progressing On reNewable energy Transfer for International Supply in a connected Europe) aims to set up a cross-border European green hydrogen value chain between Spain and the Netherlands. Electricity produced from 750 MW of renewable energy installations in Spain will be converted to hydrogen through electrolysis in a facility at the port of Huelva. The hydrogen will then be converted in a liquid organic hydrogen carrier to be shipped to the port of Rotterdam where it will be further processed for industrial uses

The description of their scope, including the components which are covered by the CB RES status, is included in a technical document (October 2024). The list will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.

More information on these projects is available in in the interactive map of the CB RES Transparency Platform. 

Once a project has received the CB RES status, it is eligible for CEF Energy funding for studies and works.

The CB RES status also benefit project promoters with higher visibility, increased investor certainty and stronger support from EU countries.

The European Climate Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) organises calls on an annual basis.

The first dedicated CEF Energy call was published in 2022. As a result, 2 of the projects - ELWIND and CICERONE - will receive grants for studies for a total of €22 million. It will help them advance the projects through environmental impact assessment, geological and sea basin research, spatial planning and front-end engineering.

The second CEF Energy call for studies and works was launched on 19 December 2023 and closed on 6 February 2024. The Commission decided to grant a total of €67.4 million to 2 project proposals for works and 3 for studies. The projects cover various renewable energy technologies, such as offshore and onshore wind, district heating and green ammonia processing and involve 5 EU countries: Estonia, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, and Poland.

• Implementing decision on the selection of proposals and award of grants for technical studies and its annex (C/2023/4521)
• Implementing decision on the selection of proposals and award of grants for preparatory studies and its annex (C/2022/4146)

• Delegated Regulation establishing a list of selected cross-border projects in the field of renewable energy (EU/2023/2639)
• Technical documentation on CB RES status 2023, supplementing the Delegated Regulation (EU/2023/2639)
• Delegated Regulation on the cross-border renewable energy projects selection process (EU/2022/342)
• Staff working document on the CBA analysis (SWD/2021/0429 final)
• Connecting Europe Facility Regulation (EU/2021/1153)
• Cross-border renewable energy projects  (CEF energy)
• Call and application processes (CINEA)
• Cooperation mechanisms
• CB RES transparency platform