How can Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) be chosen?

In 2012, the European Council and the European Parliament adopted an Infrastructure Regulation which established detailed guidelines for the selection of trans-European infrastructures as ‘Projects of Common Interest’ (PCIs). The PCIs, after being pre-selected by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity, are discussed in four regional groups. The main objective of this study was to assist the four regional groups in their process towards a consensus about the projects to be handed in to the High-Level body for consideration as a PCI. This body decides whether projects will be supported with special regulatory procedures and financial aid if required.

The developed methodology for selecting those projects that provide most benefits to the European Union as a whole, yielded a ranking of the projects in the 78 existing clusters of PCIs (in May 2012). The project also conducted an analysis of characteristics of the current PCIs, regarding their values, location and dates. The total investments involved in the transmission projects amount to 54 030 million Euros. This implies an average of 886 million Euros per PCI. However, average investments per PCI vary largely per group.

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Commissioning dates of sub-PCI projects. Source: Final Report.

The methodology developed for selecting those projects that provide most benefits to the European Union as a whole, consisted of three basic steps:

  1. Eligibility Assessment of transmission and storage projects: this was done based on the projects’ perceived necessity, voltage, use of essential equipment and cross-border impact
  2. Ranking of the projects according to the above criteria;
  3. Working Group assessment.
Categories: Energy Policy, Renewable Energy