On the basis of Member States’ expression of interest and binding commitments, the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) has opened the first-ever cross-border tender for renewables on 18 April. The call will close on 27 of September. For this call, Luxembourg will participate as a contributing country, voluntarily contributing EUR 40 million to the mechanism. Finland will be the hosting country.

The call will support new solar PV projects located in Finland with a minimum capacity of 5 MW and a maximum of 100 MW. The total capacity of the call is expected to be 400 MW.

To better support renewable energy projects, and thereby encourage a greater uptake of renewable energy sources across the EU, the European Commission established a new EU financing mechanism: the EU Renewable Energy Financing Mechanism (RENEWFM). The Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1294 of 15 September 2020 on the Union renewable energy financing mechanism sets out the detailed functioning and underpinnings of the RENEWFM.

The RENEWFM pools financial contributions from participating EU countries and then allocates funding through a system of competitive tenders. It involves countries that make direct payment into the mechanism (contributing countries) and countries that allow physical installations of the new projects on their territory (host countries).

The financial contributions that enter the financing mechanism scheme will be distributed by the European Commission through competitive tenders for grants. The grants cover either the installation of a renewable energy production facility with certain capacity (investment support), or the actual production of renewable energy (operating support). The size of the grant is determined by the outcome of the tender procedure, where only the most competitive projects will be selected and receive support, corresponding to their bid in the tender. The general principle of the RENEWFM is to rank applications according to the lowest price offer per MW.

CINEA is organising an Info Day about the callEN on 25 April, taking place in a hybrid mode in Helsinki and online, to obtain more information about the call conditions, priority order of the tender and award criteria, as well as rules for grant disbursements.

At the info day, you will have the possibility to raise questions during a Q&A session and find out the conditions to participate to the call. A webcasting of the event will also be available.

CEF Energy launches EUR 750 million call for energy infrastructure projects

In addition, CINEA launched a new call for proposals for key cross-border EU energy infrastructure projects included on the 5th list of Projects of Common Interest (PCIs)EN, to be co-financed through grants worth 750 million EUR from the EU budget.

The new call addresses studies and works for PCIs and it will be open until 5 September 2023 (17.00 CET). The PCIs are key infrastructure projects aimed at completing the European energy market in order to help the EU achieve its energy policy and climate objectives: affordable, secure and sustainable energy for all citizens, as well as the long-term decarbonisation of the economy in accordance with EU Green Deal. Energy infrastructure is a key enabler for the energy transition as reflected in the Commission’s communication on the European Green Deal.

Projects selected as PCIs can automatically benefit from many advantages stemming from the Trans-European Network - Energy (TEN-E) Regulation, including an accelerated permit granting and improved regulatory treatment. Projects on the list can also apply for financial support under the CEF Energy programme.

CEF Energy has a grant budget of EUR 5.84 billion for the period 2021-2027 and has been set up to support studies and construction works in the areas of gas, electricity, smart grids and CO2 networks.