Around 250 energy infrastructure projects in the EU are set to benefit from accelerated permitting and could also receive financial support from the European Commission after it unveiled its list of "projects of common interest" (PCI).
The EU executive body says that the 250 projects - largely electricity and gas network projects - will play a major role in modernising and improving the reliability of the region's energy infrastructure. It hopes that the benefits that the PCIs will receive will not only bring them on-line more quickly, but will also make them more attractive to investors.
Some of the projects will also receive funding from the Connecting Europe Facility, which has a €5.85 billion budget for energy infrastructure projects for the 2014-2020 period.
On the PCI list are 140 electricity transmission and storage projects and 100 gas transmission, storage and LNG projects. A number of oil and smart grid projects are also included.
These projects will benefit from accelerated planning and permit granting procedures and an enhanced regulatory framework with a single national authority able to grant permits. The Commission says that the project will contribute to market integration, competition and security of supply, and will also help to reduce carbon emissions.
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