The European Commission has approved €125.81 million in grants to finance works on three cross-border renewable energy projects under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Energy, according to the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA).

The funding will be distributed among two projects aimed at decarbonising district heating systems between Germany and Poland and a third initiative supporting the development of a cross-border onshore wind farm near the Latvia-Lithuania border.

The initiatives have Cross-Border Renewable Energy (CB RES) status, a requirement for accessing this strand of EU funding. The framework supports renewable energy projects involving cooperation between Member States and delivering benefits in areas including sustainability, security of supply and energy market integration.

€70 million to connect the district heating networks of Görlitz and Zgorzelec

The largest allocation, €70 million, will finance the final works stage of the UNITED HEAT project between the neighbouring cities of Görlitz, Germany, and Zgorzelec, Poland.

The project aims to develop climate-neutral district heating systems in both cities and obtained CB RES status in 2022. It has since progressed through a studies sub-project and two works sub-projects carried out in 2024 and 2025.

The latest funding will support the final works stage, including a cross-border pipeline that will enable physical heat exchange and cross-border system balancing. The infrastructure will physically interconnect the district heating systems on both sides of the border and integrate the heat sources developed under previous phases.

S?ubice to replace coal-fired heat generation with biomass

A further €11.41 million will support an action under the TWIN HEAT project connecting S?ubice, Poland, and Frankfurt (Oder), Germany.

The wider project seeks to fully decarbonise district heating in S?ubice and initiate the deep decarbonisation of the system in Frankfurt through a coordinated cross-border approach based on renewable energy sources.

The funded action will replace existing coal-fired heat generation units in S?ubice with two biomass boilers with a thermal capacity of 6 MW each, using sustainable biomass in the form of wood chips.

€44.4 million for cross-border wind development between Latvia and Lithuania

The third grant, worth €44.40 million, will support the first development stage of the UELJO WP project, which was granted CB RES status by the European Commission in 2025.

The project aims to develop a cross-border onshore wind farm near the Latvia-Lithuania border, comprising around 30 modern wind turbines and expected to generate up to 680 GWh of renewable electricity per year.

This first implementation phase will focus particularly on Latvia and includes construction of balance-of-plant infrastructure, grid connection works and the installation of wind turbines.

By using shared transmission infrastructure, the project is expected to facilitate the integration of renewable generation into the Baltic electricity system while strengthening energy cooperation between Latvia and Lithuania.

Next CB RES funding call expected in November

The Connecting Europe Facility Energy supports cross-border energy infrastructure across the EU. Its CB RES framework specifically targets renewable energy projects involving cooperation between Member States.

Only projects that have previously obtained CB RES status are eligible to apply for funding under this CEF Energy window.

The European Commission adopted a new CB RES list on 11 September 2026, which will enter into force on 1 October 2026. The next CEF Energy call for proposals for cross-border renewable energy projects is expected to open in November 2026.