The European Commission will grant almost €1.25bn ($1.3bn) in funding through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to a raft of energy initiatives including hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) projects.
The bulk of funding (€750m or $770m) will go towards eight electricity grid projects such as the Bornholm Energy island project which involves building an underwater power cable to connect Denmark and Germany. It will also help to bring in power from offshore wind farms, with the ability to handle up to three gigawatts of wind energy.
Over €250m ($257m) is earmarked for 21 hydrogen development projects including BarMar-H2med between Spain and France, the backbone projects in Italy, Portugal and Spain and the hydrogen corridors and routes in the Baltic region.
Another €250m ($257m) will be used to build three projects and fund nine studies to plan carbon dioxide (CO2) infrastructure. The Prinos storage facility in Northern Greece will receive almost €120m ($124m), while a second grant worth €55m ($57m) will go towards building the North Sea L10 CO2 storage facility on the Dutch continental shelf.
A third grant of €12m ($12.3m) will be awarded to the Norne CO2 facility in Denmark.
According to Dan Jørgensen, Commissioner for Energy and Housing, the funding is the highest ever awarded under the CEF for energy infrastructure projects.
“It is also the first time that hydrogen and offshore electricity grid projects are selected,” he said. “Once completed, the successful projects will boost our efforts to decarbonise our economies and societies.”
This funding decision follows the 2024 CEF call and was approved by Member States after the 28 January 2025 CEF Coordination Committee. The award will be formally adopted in the coming weeks, with CINEA preparing grant agreements. The next CEF Energy call will take place later this year.
