Press Release: Energy: EU invests €647 million in key energy infrastructure

On the 29 October 2014 Member States agreed to allocate €647 million to support key priority infrastructure projects.

The bulk of the support went to gas projects in the Baltic region as well as in Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe. Funding will come from an EU programme called the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).

The supported projects will increase Europe’s energy security and help end the isolation of Member States from EU-wide energy networks. They will also contribute to the completion of a European energy market and the integration of renewables to the electricity grid.

Besides the construction of new pipelines, these gas projects also included terminals to ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the Baltic region, Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe.

Environmental think tank E3G warned that the investment gap was three times higher for electricity infrastructure projects than for gas infrastructure. This means that, while Connecting Europe Facility’s underpinning regulation calls for the majority of money to go to electricity, gas projects have been subject to more funding.

• Primary Source

European Commission: RAPID: MEMO/14/605: Connecting Europe with grants for energy infrastructure http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-14-605_en.htm

EurActiv, 31.10.14: EU millions go to gas infrastructure, despite regulation http://www.euractiv.com/sections/energy/eu-millions-go-gas-infrastructure-despite-regulation-309650

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