EU free movement of electricity: Connecting Europe facilitated

BRUSSELS, 19 October 2011. The European Commission today proposed new EU legislation for speeding up and financing new energy infrastructure.

"9.1 billion Euros of financial support from the EU budget for priority projects is substantially more money than was provided in the past", said Christian Kjaer, Chief Executive Officer of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), referring to the Connecting Europe facility. "Although it represents only a small proportion of the 200 billion Euros the European Commission has estimated is needed for energy infrastructure improvements, it should, together with the proposal for Project Bonds, leverage significant additional private investments", he added.

Kjaer warned it would be still not clear how this money will be divided between electricity, gas, oil and carbon capture and storage (CCS) infrastructure. CCS will not be ready by 2020, which means by the end of the time frame of this regulation. "A clear priority should be given to financial support for electricity infrastructure. This will bring clear benefits for Europe's energy security, the internal electricity market and integrating very large amounts of renewable energy", said Kjaer.

EWEA fully supports the Commission's plans to eliminate unnecessary delays in authorisation procedures for new priority European power lines including offshore grids. "It is not necessary for authorisation to build new electricity grids to take over ten years, and this proposal will help to reduce these delays", said Kjaer commenting on the guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure.