On 19 January 2016, EU member states agreed to invest EUR 217 million in key energy infrastructure projects connecting various member states mainly in Central and South Eastern Europe. In the framework of the CEF (Connecting Europe Facility) funding programme, 15 projects were selected. The aim of the projects is to increase energy security, end the isolation of individual member states, and contribute to the completion of a European energy market and the integration of renewables into the electricity grid.
Nine of the selected projects are in the gas sector and ten are in the electricity sector.
Selected projects contain several studies as well. One of them examines the modernisation of the Bulgarian gas transmission network, which should increase its transport capacity. Other studies are related to the Midcat project, whose aim is to increase the transmission capacity of pipelines between Spain and France, and to bring gas from Algeria and Spanish LNG terminals to the rest of Europe. The pipeline linking gas networks in Romania, Bulgaria, Austria and Hungary will also be funded from the EU funds.
Another environmental and engineering study will examine the new electricity line between Germany and Denmark. The new line will bring electricity from Scandinavia to Central Europe.
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