Call for applications for candidate projects in all categories under new Energy Infrastructure Regulation
The Commission has opened a call for applications for energy infrastructure projects under the new Trans-European Network for Energy (TEN-E) Regulation (EU/2022/869), that was revised last year. Running until 15 December, the call covers all energy infrastructure categories, including candidates for Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) and the new Projects of Mutual Interest (PMIs), as defined under the regulation. The submission window opened shortly after the first Cross-regional meeting on Projects of Common Interest and Projects of Mutual Interest, where the Commission explained the steps in the application and assessment process for PCIs and PMIs candidates, as well as the roles and responsibilities of relevant actors.
In force since June 2022, the revised regulation includes new and updated infrastructure categories in its scope. Ahead of the formal entry into force, the Commission presented the key provisions in a series of webinars in May 2022.
In order to be eligible for inclusion in the Union lists, candidate projects in electricity must be included in the Ten-Year Network Development Plans (TYNDP) developed by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E). The requirement for hydrogen projects only applies as of 1 January 2024 for the purposes of the second Union list that will be established under the revised TEN-E Regulation.
How to apply?
Promoters of projects wishing to become PCIs are invited to participate in the call by submitting an application via the on-line submission platforms available at the following links:
- For electricity projects transmission and storage candidate projects, an ENTSO-E online submission platform is available
- For hydrogen and electrolysers candidate projects, an ENTSO-G online platform, together with a tailored application kit, is available to promoters (consult the provided handbook for the user credentials)
- For smart electricity grid candidate projects
- For smart gas grids candidate projects
- For CO2 transport and storage candidate projets
Where relevant, the TYNDP data will be directly retrieved from the respective TYNDP 2022 project sheet. The call for applications will be open from 17 October until 15 December 2022 at midnight.
What are the next steps after project submission?
Eligible projects will be assessed to identify if they address a European need that can be best solved through infrastructure. Projects that pass this test will be assessed against the specific criteria set out in the revised TEN-E Regulation to identify their contribution to the implementation of the respective energy infrastructure priority corridor and their fulfillment of the aforementioned criteria.
Projects meeting all requirements of the regulation and making the largest contributions will be proposed for inclusion in the first European Union list of Projects of Common Interest and Projects of Mutual Interest under the revised TEN-E Regulation. The list will be adopted by the European Commission by the end of 2023 as delegated act and published in the Official Journal by early 2024 if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council.
This is an overview of the main steps of the 1st PCI/PMI process:
Whom can I contact in case of questions?
For questions concerning the application modules and TYNDPs:
- For electricity projects: tyndp@entsoe.eu.
- For hydrogen and electrolyser projects: projects@entsog.eu.
For questions concerning the submission process for smart electricity grids, smart gas grids and CO2 transport and storage: ENER-C4-PROJECTS@ec.europa.eu.
For questions concerning the PCI identification and selection process: ENER-C4-PROJECTS@ec.europa.eu.
Documents
- ENTSOG Data Portal Handbook for supporting promoters for the first PCI Process under revised TEN-E