CEF Energy: two new projects obtain the status to join the CB RES list

The European Commission has announced today that two 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, has now a total of five projects.

The two new projects joining the list are:

• SLOWP - Saare-Liivi Offshore Wind Park: the goal of this project is to produce electricity and/or hydrogen through offshore wind power plant facilities in the Gulf of Riga, on the western side of the island Kihnu, in Estonian seawaters. The first stage of development includes the construction of approximately 80 wind turbines with a total capacity of 1.2 GW, with an expected annual electricity production of over 5 TWh. The aim is to have the SLOWP project ready and operational in 2028, so it could contribute to the national energy and climate policy target by 2030.

• ULP-RES WP - Utilitas Lode-Penuja RES Wind park: the project will develop 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. The total power production capacity is of 200 MW and annual energy production of 600 GWh starting from 2027, representing more than 5% of the current total power consumption of both countries.

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

The other three projects that inaugurated the CB RES list in 2022 are:

• 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.

Learn more about them in the CB RES Transparency Platform

The five 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 have seen their first CEF funded actions approved in 2023.

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.

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.