Wednesday, December 15, 2021
No more funding
EU turns off the tap on pipeline projects
On the way to climate neutrality, the EU is adapting its funding policy for energy projects. In the future, pipeline projects can no longer count on money from Brussels. On the other hand, electricity networks and hydrogen projects are increasingly coming into focus.
The EU no longer wants to fund new oil and natural gas pipelines with its own funds. Negotiators from the EU member states and the European Parliament agreed on a reform of the so-called TEN-E regulation for the expansion of cross-border energy networks. The revised regulation sets new priorities in energy production in order to achieve the EU’s climate targets.
In particular, electricity grids, lines to offshore wind farms and climate-friendly gases such as hydrogen are to be promoted in the future. However, new projects exclusively with fossil oil or natural gas are no longer allowed to receive EU support. Funding is provided through so-called Projects of Common Interest (PCIs), which can be approved more quickly and supported with EU funds.
The Commission had already presented a new PCI list in November. However, this still contains gas projects that were already part of the previous list – such as gas pipelines to Malta or Cyprus that are already planned. Environmental organizations had criticized this because they can still be financed by EU funds, even though gas as a fossil fuel emits greenhouse gases.
All of this has yet to be confirmed by the Council of EU States and the European Parliament, but this is considered a formality. The EU has set itself the goal of emitting at least 55 percent fewer greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide by 2030 than in 1990 and becoming climate-neutral by 2050, i.e. avoiding or storing all greenhouse gases.