CEF 2 Energy - Cross-border renewable energy studies projects

This call for proposals aims at financing projects contributing to the goals and objectives of the European Green Deal, as well as the Paris Agreement and the 2030 climate and energy targets and the EU's objectives for climate neutrality, in accordance with recitals 5 and 30 of the CEF Regulation and in line with the Multi-annual Work Programme.

It is expected that the financial assistance contributes to the development and the implementation of CB RES projects, leading to cost-effective achievement of renewables target by 2030 in the EU (as referred to in Article 3 of Directive 2018/2001/EC) and to the strategic uptake of renewables technologies. Cross-border RES projects are an integral element of the enabling framework for regional and cross-border cooperation on renewables and facilitate cross border cooperation in the field of energy (as referred to in Article 3 of the CEF Regulation).

This topic refers to projects for studies contributing to the implementation of a CB RES project. Studies (CEF regulation article 2) in the meaning of CEF-Energy include activities needed to prepare cross-border RES project implementation, such as preparatory, mapping, feasibility, evaluation, testing and validation studies, including in the form of software, and any other technical support measure, including prior action to define and develop a cross-border RES project and decide on its financing, such as exploration of the sites concerned and preparation of the financial package. A study could cover in-depth investigation and exploration of the risk factors of a project e.g. safety, technical, environmental, regulatory, economic or legal issues to determine whether and how the project should be implemented.

A study could also be used to set out in detail the operational aspects of a cooperation, such as the precise legal set up of the financing arrangement e.g. the cross-border tender or the regulatory set up of the cooperation project. For more mature projects, a study may have the objective to move the project through the development stage to a Final Investment Decision (FID) and may include Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) studies, technical design studies, geophysical surveys, seabed surveys, tasks related to territorial planning, environmental assessments and comparable studies as applicable. Activities may also include stakeholder engagement and procurement for the construction phase.

Please note that only the projects selected for the CB RES list are eligible for support through EU financial aid in the form of grants in this call.