EU selects three new cross-border renewable energy projects for funding

The European Commission has updated the list of cross-border renewable energy projects eligible for funding under the Connecting Europe Facility, adding three newly selected projects. The change is set out in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1470, adopted on 2 July 2026 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 11 September 2026.

The regulation amends Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2202, which established the original list of selected cross-border projects in the field of renewable energy. It is based on Regulation (EU) 2021/1153, which created this project category to support decarbonisation, complete the internal energy market and improve the security of energy supply.

Selection process

The three new projects were chosen following a call for proposals published on 2 September 2025 and closed on 5 February 2026. The proposals were assessed by external experts and by experts from the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency and the European Commission, with particular attention to the cost-effective exploitation of renewable energy and the use of different technologies, including geothermal energy, onshore wind and solar photovoltaic.

The assessment results were notified to the Expert Group for renewable energy cross-border projects, which agreed to include the new projects in the list. Inclusion makes the projects eligible to apply for funding under the Connecting Europe Facility, subject to their compliance with Union law, including environmental assessment and permit procedures.

The three new projects

• WIND (project 2025-2) – Wind Integration for Network Decarbonization, developed by DTEK, involving Romania and Ukraine.
• DEPLOY (project 2025-4) – Decarbonization of Industrial Clusters at the Polish German Border Region via the Deployment of an Integrated Cross-Border Power Plant, developed by ENERTRAG SE, involving Germany and Poland.
• ZEGA-LINNK (project 2025-5) – Zero Emission heat network linking Germany and Austria, developed by Geothermie-Wärmegesellschaft Braunau-Simbach mbH, involving Austria and Germany.

Updated list and a withdrawal

Alongside the additions, the Commission submitted to the Expert Group its annual progress report on projects already on the list. That report identified one project whose implementation will not continue in its current cross-border configuration due to significant challenges and uncertainties, and it has been withdrawn from the list following the group’s agreement.

The updated list retains the earlier projects, including ELWIND (Estonia and Latvia), CICERONE (Germany, the Netherlands and Spain), UNITED HEAT (Germany and Poland), BEI – Bornholm Energy Island (Denmark and Germany), CORES (Luxembourg and Portugal), Medlink Renewable Generation (Algeria, Italy and Tunisia) and Twin Heat (Germany and Poland), among others.

The regulation enters into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal and is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. It was signed in Brussels on 2 July 2026 by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

For readers, the update matters because it channels EU funding into concrete cross-border energy infrastructure, advancing the bloc’s decarbonisation goals while strengthening energy security through greater interconnection between Member States and partner countries.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, 11 September 2026, L 2026/1470 (official reference: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1470, CELEX L_202601470).