New call for European projects of common interest

The European Commission has released a new call for applications for energy infrastructure projects of common and mutual interest (PCI/PMI).

The call for what will be the seventh list of PCIs and second of PMIs – and the second combined list of PCIs and PMIs – runs for three months until 18 December, with the list due to be published by the end of 2025 and entering into force in early 2026.

PCIs are energy infrastructure projects connecting two or more EU countries, while the PMIs are projects connecting EU countries with others outside.

Projects eligible for inclusion include electricity transmission, electricity storage, smart electricity grids, smart gas grids, hydrogen and electrolyser projects and CO2 transport and storage and in particular are selected as cross-border projects that can address existing bottlernecks.

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Further for eligibility projects in electricity and hydrogen must be included in the 2024 Ten-Year Network Development Plans of ENTSO-E or ENTSOG.

With inclusion on the list projects are eligible for funding from the Connecting Europe Facility.

They also can benefit from accelerated planning and permitting, improved regulatory conditions, including incentives and rules for the allocation of costs across borders, and increased visibility to investors.

The list of PCIs and PMIs is updated every two years, with the first combined PCI and PMI list published in December 2023.

It includes 68 projects for electricity interconnections, 12 projects in offshore grids, 65 projects for hydrogen interconnections and electrolysers, five smart electricity grid projects, two smart gas grid projects and 14 cross-border carbon dioxide network projects.

The deadline for the second list for electricity and hydrogen and electrolyser categories runs to 18 November 2024 and for the smart electricity grids, smart gas grids and CO2 projects to 18 December 2024.