The European Commission finances 8 more sustainable and safe transport infrastructure projects in Europe with €39.4 million

The EU is continuing in its support of safe and green transport by granting €39.4 million to 8 projects that will contribute towards the goal of making the transport sector more environmentally performant by facilitating the use of alternative fuels as well as improving safety and sustainability of European rail transport. The projects have been selected under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Transport Blending Facility rolling call, an instrument specifically designed to mix private financing with EU support. This latest batch of selected projects brings the total for this call to 44 for an EU support of almost €300 million.

"Whether installing electric charging points, developing hydrogen or LNG infrastructure, or modernising rail traffic management: each project is crucial in the European transition to a sustainable and smart mobility network. By combining European funding with that of national partners, the CEF - Transport - Blending Facility instrument ensures maximum impact, and brings us closer to achieving our European Green Deal goals." says Adina Vălean, European Commissioner for Transport.

The Director of the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), Dirk Beckers, also stated: “These 8 additional projects bring the total selected under this call to 44, signaling the excellent uptake from government and the private sector to deploy alternative fuel infrastructure for road transport as well as making the railway system safer and more interoperable. Safety and green credentials are essential elements of the present and future transport sector and CINEA helps to deliver these through its portfolio of EU-supported projects.”

Five of the eight projects selected today will deploy key alternative fuel infrastructure (electricity, hydrogen or liquefied natural gas for road vehicles), feeding directly into the European Commission’s priority to deliver a greener EU. They involve:

• Implementing hydrogen passenger trains in the Province of Groningen (The Netherlands)
• Deploying an innovative hydrogen infrastructure hub for public buses and private users in the city of Barcelona (Spain)
• Installing 160 charging points for electric vehicles to boost electromobility in Spain & Portugal
• Operating a fleet of 46 e-buses, 2 hydrogen buses and 117 e-trolleybuses in Lyon (France)
• Deploying a network of 29 Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) stations and a fleet of LNG trucks in Portugal, Spain, France and Italy

The remaining three projects focus on the second priority of the call and will improve interoperability of rail transport through the support for the installation of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). ERTMS is a harmonised train command and control system which, once fully implemented across the EU, will allow for seamless cross-border rail traffic whilst ensuring safety and increasing efficiency. The retained CEF support allows for deployment of the system on 79 vehicles (91 on-board units), including:

• Retrofitting of 34 rail vehicles (34 on-board units) in Germany
• Upgrading of 12 rail vehicles (24 on-board units) in Italy
• Retrofitting of 33 rail vehicles (33 on-board units) in Slovenia

What is the 2019 CEF Transport Blending Facility rolling call?

The CEF Transport Blending Facility is an innovative approach to promoting the substantial participation of private sector investors and financial institutions in projects contributing to the environmental sustainability and efficiency of the transport sector in Europe. The EU's financial contribution comes in the form of grants to be combined with financing from the Implementing Partners (via a loan, debt, equity or any other repayable form of support).

The call supports two areas that will deliver on the Commission's agenda for a clean and digital transport system:

• Deployment of Alternative Fuels
• Deployment of the European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS)

It is implemented via a cooperation framework between the European Commission, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and promotional banks from EU-Member States to support Blending Operations, i.e. investments combining the use of grants and/or financial instruments from the EU budget and financing from the abovementioned banks (via a loan, debt, equity or any other repayable form of support).

The call was launched on 15 November 2019 and was open until 15 February 2021, with intermediate cut-off dates in view of carrying out periodic evaluations of the proposals received.