Regulation on Trans-European Energy Networks (TEN-E Regulation)

: Category: European Union Electricity Market Glossary; Published: 01 January 2021; Last Updated: 17 May 2022

The Regulation on Trans-European Energy Networks (TEN-E) means precisely the Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2013 on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure and repealing Decision No 1364/2006/EC and amending Regulations (EC) No 713/2009, (EC) No 714/2009 and (EC) No 715/2009.

New

16 May 2022

The Council adopts a revised Trans-European Networks for Energy (TEN-E) Regulation

8 April 2022

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/564 of 19 November 2021 amending Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the Union list of projects of common interest published in the EU Official Journal

The TEN-E Regulation lays down harmonised European rules for the timely development and interoperability of trans-European energy networks (covering the EU and the European Economic Area).

The provisions of the TEN-E Regulation are based on the 2011 impact assessment, published by the European Commission on 19 October 2011, related to Decision No 1364/2006/EC establishing the first guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure.

The TEN-E Regulation has established a new approach to cross-border energy infrastructure planning.

The TEN-E Regulation contains a number of provisions, including:

provisions on a process for the selection of projects of common interest (PCIs);
provisions on (priority status in) permit-granting procedures and public participation;
provisions on monitoring of project implementation;
provisions on cross-border allocation of project costs and regulatory incentives; and
provisions on eligibility for funding from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).

It brings together stakeholders in regional groups to identify and help implement PCIs that contribute to the development of energy infrastructure priority corridors and thematic areas.

In addition to an effective and cost-efficient approach to infrastructure planning, the regulation has improved the permitting procedures.

It requires Member States to ensure a streamlined permit granting process for PCIs within a timeframe of 42 months for a permitting decision.

They are to receive the highest national priority status and be included in national network development plans.

The regulation also provides for regulatory assistance, rules and guidance for the cross-border allocation of costs and risk-related incentives, and provides access to financing opportunities from the CEF.

As indicated in the Annexes to the European Commission's draft regulation, since its adoption in 2013, TEN-E Regulation enabled the implementation of over 40 key energy infrastructure projects and further 75 projects are expected to be implemented by 2022.

The financing support provided by CEF of EUR 4.7 billion in total enabled the implementation of 95 PCIs.

Since 2014, CEF has provided financing to 149 actions of which 114 (EUR 519 million) for studies and 35 (EUR 4.2 billion) for works.

Of the total budget of EUR 4.7 billion, EUR 1.5 billion were allocated to gas projects and EUR 2.8 billion to electricity projects.

So far, around one fifth of all PCIs have received CEF financial assistance for studies and/or works.

The 4th ‘PCI list’ contains 149 PCIs - PCIs are categorised by sector; the majority of list entries are electricity PCIs (100 projects), followed by gas PCIs (32), oil PCIs (6), smart grids PCIs (6) and carbon dioxide (CO2) PCIs.

European Green Deal of December 2019 (European Commission Communication COM(2019) 640) explicitly refers to the need for a review of the TEN-E Regulation to ensure consistency with climate neutrality objectives.

European Commission Communication on the European Green Deal (COM(2019) 640) of December 2019

The transition to climate neutrality also requires smart infrastructure.
Increased cross-border and regional cooperation will help achieve the benefits of the clean energy transition at affordable prices.
The regulatory framework for energy infrastructure, including the TEN-E Regulation, will need to be reviewed to ensure consistency with the climate neutrality objective.
This framework should foster the deployment of innovative technologies and infrastructure, such as smart grids, hydrogen networks or carbon capture, storage and utilisation, energy storage, also enabling sector integration. Some existing infrastructure and assets will require upgrading to remain fit for purpose and climate resilient.

In May 2020, the Commission published an inception impact assessment of a revision of the TEN-E Regulation to align the policy framework with the new policy context and in January 2021 Final Report “Support to the evaluation of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure”.

On 8 April 2022 the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/564 of 19 November 2021 amending Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the Union list of projects of common interest has been published in the EU Official Journal.

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