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Mobility and Transport
News article21 November 2017Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport

EU funding for alternative fuel deployment

In November 2017, the Commission took decisive steps forward in implementing the EU's commitments under the Paris Agreement for a binding domestic CO2 reduction of at least 40% till 2030. Among others the so-called "Clean Mobility Package" included an action plan and investment solutions for the trans-European deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure. The aim is to support national policy frameworks, by supporting investments in the transport network (the trans-European transport network or "TEN-T") and in urban areas. This will ensure availability of alternative fuels for road users. Charging an alternative-fuel vehicle along the motorway should become as easy as filling up on petrol today.

Various EU funding possibilities:

The Action Plan includes new funding opportunities with up to €800 million funds being made available for blending of grants with loans or for financial instruments (debt, loans) under the Connecting Europe Facility. This will leverage considerable additional public and private investment:

  • The CEF-Transport Blending call: the total amount of funding available for this call is being increased by € 350 million for the priority "Innovation and New technologies" focused on alternative fuels infrastructure. Proposals should be submitted by 12 April 2018. More information is available on the call page.
  • The Commission has proposed reinvesting up to € 450 million from the NER 300 fund through existing EU financial instruments. The instruments that are foreseen to be used for this exercise are InnovFin Energy Demo Projects (EDP) and Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Debt Instrument, and they are managed by the European Investment Bank. We encourage promoters to directly contact the EIB or the Commission for this purpose.
  • Under the CEF Regulation, the combination of CEF Grants and CEF Debt Instrument financing is possible. In this respect potential project promoters may consider an application for CEF grants through the CEF-Transport Blending Call.
  • Project promoters interested in advisory services related to financing and blending opportunities may receive such advice through the European Investment Advisory Hub (EIAH) by sending an email request to eiahateib [dot] org (eiah[at]eib[dot]org) and from ELENA for transport.
  • In addition, the Commission has launched a flagship initiative on batteries alongside this new proposal with additional €200 million to support European battery development and innovation from 2018 to 2020. The details are under preparation.

Details

Publication date
21 November 2017
Author
Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport