The European Commission has added to its list of cross-border renewable energy projects.

According to an update posted on the commission’s website, the projects included in the list are given a special status that offers more visibility, alongside eligibility to apply for grants for studies or construction under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).

Following a call for proposals that took place between September 2024 and January 2025, five new renewable energy cross-border projects were selected. Before being added to the list, each project was assessed by external experts, the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) and the European Commission to review their cost-effective exploitation of renewable energy.

The latest projects to be added to the list include two wind projects in the Baltic States, a district heating project between the German town of Frankfurt (Oder) and the Polish town of Słubice, an offshore renewable energy study between Portugal and Luxembourg and a renewable energy project between Italy, Algeria and Tunisia. Known as Medlink, the latter project is aiming to deploy around 10 GW of solar, onshore wind and battery energy storage in the two north African countries for both local use and export.

To be eligible for inclusion in the list, a project must encompass an agreement between two or more EU member states or between one or more member states alongside one or more third countries. There are now thirteen renewable energy projects that feature on the EU’s renewable energy cross-border projects under CEF.

The EU has supported cross-border solar projects through other financing mechanisms. The bloc’s first cross-border solar tender launched in April 2023 under the EU Renewable Energy Financing Mechanism. It saw CINEA sign grant agreements with seven solar projects across Finland with a combined capacity of 212.99 MW, to be financed with funds from Luxembourg.

A second cross-border solar tender ran in July 2024. The results of the tender were announced in May, supporting another seven solar projects in Finland alongside two wind projects in Estonia.