The EU's Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) has signed 15 grant agreements for priority energy infrastructure projects in Europe. The projects are the first of 34 projects to receive €647m under the EU's Connecting Europe Facility 2014 call for proposals.
The INEA will finance ten electricity projects, mainly interconnection line projects: the ElecLink (1 GW interconnection between France and the United Kingdom) will receive €1.7m to complete studies, the EuroAsia Interconnector (2 GW interconnection line between Israel and Greece through Cyprus) will receive €1.325m (design, implementation and environmental studies), the second 400 kV interconnector between Bulgaria and Greece (Maritsa East 1-Nea Santa) will receive €340,000 (plus €306,000 for the studies for the Bulgarian part of the project). The INEA will grant €125,000 for studies on the synchronisation of the Baltic states' power grid to the continental Europe networks. It will also grant €1m for the preparation of the documentation for the 400 kV Vernerov-Vitkov line in the Czech Republic and €279,000 for the pre-investment works for transmission line projects in Bulgaria (Maritsa East-Burgas, Maritsa East-Maritsa East 3 and Maritsa East-Plovdiv). The studies and pre-investment works for the 1,500 MW Dobrudja-Burgas transmission line project in eastern Bulgaria will receive €315,000. Where hydropower (pumped-storage) projects are concerned, the INEA will grant €3.2m for the preparation of the documentation of the Yadenitsa hydropower project in Bulgaria and €4.9m for the detailed design studies for the Amfilochia hydropower project in Greece.
The INEA will also finance gas infrastructure projects: €4.9m will be granted for the front-end engineering design (FEED) and main design of a proposed 6 bcm/year LNG terminal in Krk (Croatia) and €1,755m will be granted for the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study for the construction of a new 16.8 mcm/d offshore LNG floating storage and regasification unit off Alexandropoulis (Greece). In addition, €252,00 will be granted to studies for a 3-5 bcm/year LNG project (Aegean FSRU) in Greece and €190,000 will be granted for the feasibility study for the 3 bcm/year Interconnection Turkey-Bulgaria (ITB).