Commission kicks off Energy Infrastructure Forum and adopts guidance on cost-sharing for offshore energy projects

The 10th Energy Infrastructure Forum kicks off today in Copenhagen, Denmark, in the presence of Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson, who will deliver a speech during the high-level opening session.

In her speech this afternoon, the Commissioner will notably present the new guidance adopted today on collaborative investment frameworks for offshore energy projects. The full speech will be available later here. With this guidance document, addressed to the Member States, the Commission is providing clarity on how to best organise the cost sharing for the development of offshore clean energy projects. This will help national regulatory authorities and system operators to deliver on their regional offshore renewable targets. The Guidance document was foreseen under the TEN-E Regulation and is another concrete follow-up to the EU Grid Action Plan.

The annual Energy Infrastructure Forum is organised by the European Commission in cooperation with the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities. It brings together representatives of the EU institutions, transmission system operators, project promoters, regulators, energy companies, NGOs and civil society and the financing community to discuss the challenges of modernising Europe’s energy infrastructure to ensure a functioning internal energy market.

Discussions this year will focus on the implementation of the EU’s Action Plan for Grids, which was presented by the Commission last year to make sure electricity networks will operate more efficiently and will be rolled out further and faster, as the EU aims to become climate neutral by 2050. The participants will also exchange on the development of hydrogen infrastructure, supporting the EU’s goals under the European Green Deal and the REPowerEU Plan.