A total of €2.4 billion (£2.1bn)of funding has been made available to seven countries to help them accelerate the green transition.
It will support measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in energy, industry and transport in Romania, Czechia, Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia, as well as support them in meeting their 2030 climate and energy goals.
Projects include the modernisation of public lighting systems within municipalities, conversion of coal to biomass and gas in district heating and energy efficiency in Czechia, as well as renewable energy production in Croatia.
The funding will also support the construction of eight solar parks and two combined cycle gas turbine plants in Romania, the renovation of public buildings in Lithuania, the improvement of energy efficiency in industry in Poland, energy storage projects in Hungary and the rehabilitation and extension of district heating and cooling networks in Slovakia.
The support is being provided under the third investment cycle of the Modernisation Fund, which is funded by revenues from the auction of emission allowances from the EU’s Emissions Trading System.
European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans said: “The Modernisation Fund is European solidarity in action. With revenues from the emissions trading system it delivers concrete results on the ground, helping beneficiary countries reduce greenhouse gas emissions in key sectors and become climate neutral.”
“Moreover, this major financial injection is available to launch projects that will help speed up our energy transition in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
The deadline for beneficiary member states to submit investment proposals for potential support for the next funding round is 16th August 2022 for non-priority proposals and 13th September 2022 for priority proposals.
