The European Commission is allocating almost €1.25bn in grants for 41 cross-border energy infrastructure projects.

This is the largest call for proposals under the current CEF Energy programme (commission.europa.eu/funding-tenders/find-funding/eu-funding-programmes/connecting-europe-facility_en), both in terms of applications received and funding awarded and goes beyond the call’s initial indicative budget of €850m. It is also the first call revised regulations that include hydrogen and offshore electricity grid projects.

Such cross-border energy infrastructure investments are key to securing Europe’s competitiveness, says the EC. They will contribute to the EU’s goals of integrating energy markets and decarbonising the energy system.

Overall, the funding is allocated for five works proposals and for 36 studies. Nearly €750m of the funding is earmarked for eight electricity grid projects including offshore and smart electricity grids.

The largest grant, of €645m, will support the Bornholm Energy Island project (ec.europa.eu/assets/cinea/PCI/files/PCIFiche_5.2_1st_PCI_PMI_list.pdf) for the construction of a hybrid interconnector in the Baltic Sea that allows both to link Denmark and Germany and to integrate 3GW of offshore windfarm capacity.

Another grant for construction works of almost €33m will go to Danube InGrid (ec.europa.eu/assets/cinea/PCI/files/PCIFiche_12.3_1st_PCI_PMI_list.pdf), a cross-border smart electricity project between Hungary and Slovakia that will integrate renewable energy and more efficiently balance the system. The other six projects, in Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Slovakia and Spain, will receive grants for support studies.

To help decarbonise EU industry, hydrogen infrastructure will benefit from grants for 21 development studies amounting to over €250m. It will help alleviate investment risks associated with this nascent market and complement the hydrogen policy framework introduced in the hydrogen and decarbonised gas market package (energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/markets-and-consumers/hydrogen-and-decarbonised-gas-market_en). The grants are for projects in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

Additionally, funding worth €250m will support the construction of three projects and the financing of nine preparatory studies for CO₂ infrastructure.

This decision follows a funding call in 2024.

“The commission has proposed to allocate €1.25bn in grants, the highest ever awarded under the Connecting Europe Facility for energy infrastructure projects making a key contribution to build our energy union,” said Dan Jørgensen, commissioner for energy and housing. “It is also the first time that hydrogen and offshore electricity grid projects are selected. Once completed, the successful projects will boost our efforts to decarbonise our economies and societies, integrating our energy markets and safeguarding our industry’s competitiveness.”