European Commission adopted on Friday the fifth list of Projects of Common Interest in the field of trans-European energy infrastructure, a list that includes several projects in Romania, especially the second phase of the BRUA project, informs a press release of the Community Executive.
The list includes 98 projects: 67 projects in the field of electricity transmission and storage, 20 projects in the field of natural gas, six projects on CO2 and five projects on smart grids. All Projects of Common Interest are subject to simplified authorization procedures and are eligible for financial support from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
Regarding Romania, the list includes the Romania – Serbia Cluster, also known as the “Mid Continental East Corridor”, which includes the following projects of common interest: the overhead power line between Resita (RO) and Pancevo (Serbia); the overhead power line between the Iron Gates and Resita; the overhead power line between Reşiţa and Timişoara/Săcălaz and the overhead power line between Arad and Timişoara/Săcălaz, according to Agerpres.
In the field of natural gas, among the projects related to Romania and which are included on the fifth list of projects of common interest are: Depomureş Underground Gas Depot, Bilciureşti Underground Gas Depot and Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria Corridor (BRUA) – Phase II: extension of transport capacity in Romania from Recaş to Horia to Hungary; amplification of the three compression stations (SC Podişor, SC Bibeşti and SC Jupa); Black Sea coast – Podişor (RO) pipeline for taking over the gas from the Black Sea and ensuring the physical possibility of permanent bidirectional flow between Romania and Hungary, by building a compression station at Csanadpalota (Hungary).
In the field of smart grids, the fifth list of projects of common interest includes the CARMEN (Carpathian Modernized Energy Network), a project which aims to modernize the existing distribution infrastructure, in order to achieve national and European objectives on decarbonization, digitization and interconnection.
Following the adoption by the European Commission, the fifth list of projects of common interest will be sent to the European Parliament and the European Council. Both co-legislators have two months to accept or reject the list, a procedure that can be extended for another two months if needed.