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Call key data
Cross-border renewable energy studies projects
Funding Program
Connecting Europe Facility for Energy
Call number
CEF-E-2025-CBRENEW-STUDIES
deadlines
Opening
22.10.2024
Deadline
16.01.2025 17:00
Funding rate
50-70%
Call budget
€ 80,000,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
short description
This topic refers to projects for studies contributing to the implementation of a CB RES project. Studies (article 2 of CEF Regulation) in the meaning of CEF Energy include activities needed to prepare cross-border RES project implementation, such as preparatory, mapping, feasibility, evaluation, testing and validation studies, including in the form of software, and any other technical support measure, including prior action to define and develop a cross-border RES project and decide on its financing, such as exploration of the sites concerned and preparation of the financial package. A study could cover in-depth investigation and exploration of the risk factors of a project e.g. safety, technical, environmental, regulatory, economic or legal issues to determine whether and how the project should be implemented.
Call objectives
Based on the provisions of Article 7 and Annex Part IV of CEF Regulation, CB RES projects shall promote cross-border cooperation between Member States in the field of planning, development and the cost-effective exploitation of renewable energy sources, as well as facilitate their integration through energy storage facilities and with the aim of contributing to the Union’s long term decarbonisation strategy, completing the internal energy market and enhancing the security of supply.
Both topics under this call aim to support and contribute to the implementation of CB RES projects included in the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/2613. Only projects contributing to CB RES projects as identified in the Commission
Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/2613 shall be eligible for support through EU financial aid in the form of grants.
Both topics under this call aim to enable CB RES projects which have significant socio-economic benefits to be implemented, within the framework of the renewable energy sector and in particular to support cross-border cooperation in the field of renewable energy. In particular, the financial assistance under this call for proposals shall contribute to supporting CB RES projects that do not receive adequate financing from the market and should maximise its added value towards uptake of renewable energy investments.
It is considered that the EU added value of an action related to a CB RES project is demonstrated by the CB RES status itself.
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Expected effects and impacts
This call for proposals aims at financing projects contributing to the goals and objectives of the European Green Deal, as well as the Paris Agreement and the 2030 climate and energy targets and the EU's objectives for climate neutrality, in accordance with recitals 5 and 30 of the CEF Regulation and in line with the Multi-annual Work Programme.
It is expected that the financial assistance contributes to the development and the implementation of CB RES projects, leading to cost-effective achievement of renewables target by 2030 in the EU (as referred to in Article 3 of Directive 2018/2001/EC) and to the strategic uptake of renewables technologies. Cross-border RES projects are an integral element of the enabling framework for regional and cross-border cooperation on renewables and facilitate cross border cooperation in the field of energy (as referred to in Article 3 of the CEF Regulation).
Expected results
While CEF Energy does not finance technological development, in justified cases, studies can include also pilot projects, such as pilot plants, that are eventually needed to test technologies that are at TRL 7-8, innovative processes or techniques. Such pilot projects should be strictly related to eligible components of the CB RES project.
For more mature projects, a study may have the objective to move the project through the development stage to a Final Investment Decision (FID) and may include Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) studies, technical design studies, geophysical surveys, seabed surveys, tasks related to territorial planning, environmental assessments and comparable studies as applicable. Activities may also include stakeholder engagement and procurement for the construction phase.
A study could also be used to set out in detail the operational aspects of a cooperation, such as the precise legal set up of the financing arrangement e.g. the cross-border tender or the regulatory set up of the cooperation project, or the arrangement on the allocation of costs and benefits between the participating counties.
For each of the CB RES projects, the list of components that are included in the CB RES status can be found in the technical documentation16 supporting the Delegated Regulation that establishes the CB RES list.
Proposals for studies can cover any of the elements of the CB RES status project contained in the technical documentation.
While the focus of the study should be related to the renewable energy generation component of the project, in the case of projects with additional (non-RES generation) elements such as grid infrastructure, storage facilities, conversion of the renewable electricity, studies may also cover the interplay between those elements and the renewable energy component, if it is justified by the applicants that the effectiveness of the study will be higher when it captures the project set-up as a whole.
Under both topics, only projects in conformity with EU law and which are in line with the relevant EU policies shall be financed, in particular those relating to competition, protection of the environment, state aid and public procurement. Linked to the protection of the environment, it is be noted that there are additional requirements for WORKS proposal, notably extra mandatory documents which are reported under section 5.
In line with Article 11 of the CEF Regulation, to be eligible, proposals shall either be submitted by one or more Member States or have the agreement of the Member States concerned as expressed through the letter of support. The letter of support shall be signed by the ministries of the participating Member States in charge of implementing the cooperation agreement for the underlying CB RES project.
Clarification about the letter of support: If the competent authority is at a regional level, the letter of support can be signed by the regional authority; the latter shall provide evidence of the agreement with the national authority of the concerned Member State.
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Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
Moldova (Moldova), Ukraine (Україна)
eligible entities
Education and training institution, International organization, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Mandatory partnership
No
Project Partnership
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
- be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
- countries associated to the CEF Programme or countries which are in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement and where the agreement enters into force before grant signature (list of participating countries)
Specific cases:
- Exceptional funding — Entities from other countries (not listed above) are exceptionally eligible for projects of common interest in the field of transport if the granting authority considers their participation essential for the implementation of the project.
- Natural persons are NOT eligible (with the exception of self-employed persons, i.e. sole traders, where the company does not have legalpersonality separate from that of the natural person).
- International organisations are eligible. The rules on eligible countries do not apply to them.
- Entities without legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guaranteesfor the protection of the EU financial interests equivalent to that offered by legal persons.
- EU bodies (with the exception of the European Commission Joint Research Centre) can NOT be part of the consortium.
other eligibility criteria
Financial support to third parties is not allowed.
Please note that the available call-budget is for two calls (CEF-E-2025-CBRENEW-STUDIES and CEF-E-2025-CBRENEW-WORKS).
The costs will be reimbursed at the funding rates fixed in the Grant Agreement (maximum 50% for the costs of studies and works, maximum 70% for the costs of works in outermost regions).
Additional information
Topics
Relevance for EU Macro-Region
EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region
UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)
Additional Information
All proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funders & Tenders Portal electronic submission system (accessible via the topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section). Paper submissions are NOT possible.
Proposals must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents, e.g. plan for the exploitation and dissemination of the results including communication activities, etc.
The application form will have two parts:
- Part A (to be filled in directly online) contains administrative information about the participants (future coordinator and beneficiaries and affiliated entities), and the summarised budget for the project
- Part B (to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system) contains the technical description of the project.
Mandatory annexes and supporting documents (to be uploaded):
- Detailed budget table per WP/calculator (template available in the Submission System)
- Latest applicants’ Activity reports (unless exempted from operational capacity check; see section 7)
- List of previous projects (key projects for the last 4 years) (template available in Part B)
- Timetable/Gantt chart
- Agreement by the concerned Member States (Letter of support)
- Environmental compliance file (template available in the Submission System)
The limit for a full application (Part B) is 120 pages.
Call documents
Contact
Website
CINEA CEF Energy
CINEA-CEF-ENERGY-CALLS@ec.europa.eu
Website
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