Following the successful conclusion of the first tender of the EU renewable energy financing mechanism on 27 September 2023, 8 solar PV projects with a total capacity of 282.77 MW have been awarded funding.

All applications which passed the eligibility check, and which met the minimum quality requirements, were ranked based on the price of their bid to the tender, starting from the lowest price, until the total budget of the tender (€40 million) was absorbed.

The selected projects are now invited by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) to prepare a grant agreement and will have to commence their solar PV project within 24 months following the grant signature. After that, the participating countries (Luxembourg and Finland) will share the statistics of the renewable electricity generated by the projects which will contribute to the achievement of their national targets for renewables.

This marks the successful conclusion of the first round of the renewable energy financing mechanism. It was established by the Commission in 2020, aiming to better support renewable energy projects and encourage a greater uptake of renewables across the EU.

The Commission will start the next round of discussions with EU countries in view of launching the second tender in 2024.

KeyFacts Energy News: Solar