The European Commission has announced today that three more projects have obtained the status required to be part of the List of Renewable Energy Cross-border Projects (CB RES list) under the Connecting Europe Facility for Energy (CEF Energy). The list, launched for the first time in August 2022 and updated in September 2023, has now a total of eight projects.

The three new projects joining the list are:

• PONTIS (Progressing On reNewable energy Transfer for International Supply in a connected Europe): it aims to push the building-up of an integrated, cross-border renewable hydrogen supply chain in Europe to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy and the development of a market for green hydrogen and its transport through Europe. 
• BEI - Bornholm Energy Island: The BEI aims at two offshore wind farms and two interconnectors from the converter station to Denmark and to Germany, allowing for the trading and sharing of surplus electricity. The transmission infrastructure of BEI would be hybrid, meaning that it would function as connection of the concessionaires on offshore wind production connected to BEI as well as interconnection capacity used for trade between Denmark and Germany. 
• TMNHSA (BG-RO) Project - The Turnu Magurele-Nikopol Hydraulic Structures Assembly: a major cross-border initiative between Romania and Bulgaria, it aims at using the hydropower potential of the Danube River while focusing on environmental sustainability, renewable energy generation and localities and industries' needs. The project contributes to the joint commitment by Bulgaria and Romania to achieve EU's sustainable energy objectives and foster enhanced regional collaboration.

These projects will help to fill a gap of regional renewable electricity production, contribute to an open electricity market, increase Europe’s energy independence, and reduce fossil fuel consumption by decarbonizing the energy sector.

Other projects in the CB RES list

From 2022:

• ELWIND: a hybrid offshore wind park between Estonia and Latvia.
• GOERLITZ-ZGORZELEC: a cross-border district heating grid based on RES between Germany and Poland.
• CICERONE: a project to produce renewable electricity in Italy, Spain and Germany for conversion, transport and use of green hydrogen in the Netherlands and Germany.

From 2023: 

• SLOWP - Saare-Liivi Offshore Wind Park: offshore wind power plant facilities in the Gulf of Riga, in Estonian seawaters. 
• ULP-RES WP - Utilitas Lode-Penuja RES Wind park: an on-shore wind park in the northern part of Latvia and the southern part of Estonia consisting of new generation wind turbines with joint connection to the transmission grid in Latvia. 

Learn more about them in the CB RES Transparency Platform.

The eight projects, thanks to the official CB RES status, are eligible for financial support for studies and works under the CEF Energy Programme. Furthermore, they benefit from higher visibility, increased investor certainty, and stronger support from Member States. ELWIND and CICERONE were first funded by CEF in 2023, while Goerlitz-Zgorzelec, ULP-RES, and SLOWP have received CEF funding very recently, in 2024. 

The realisation of the projects in the CB RES list will make an important contribution to the increased renewable energy ambition under the European Green Deal, as well as to the objectives of the REPowerEU.

In line with CEF Energy rules, this adopted list is now submitted to the European Parliament and the Council for a 2-month period of scrutiny (this period may be extended by an additional 2-month period upon their request) and it will only be formally published in the Official Journal after this period, and enter into force 20 days later.

Background

CB RES projects are identified by the CEF Regulation and aim to promote cross-border cooperation between EU countries (and between EU countries and non-EU countries) in the field of planning, development and cost-effective exploitation of renewable energy sources. In addition, CB RES projects may facilitate RES integration through energy storage or hydrogen production facilities with the aim of contributing to the EU’s long-term decarbonisation strategy. CB RES projects need to be set-up by a cooperation mechanism as defined in the recast of the Renewable Energy Directive.