ACER: limited progress in implementation of Projects of Common Interest

ACER published today its second consolidated annual report on the progress of Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) in electricity and gas. The report contains the results of the monitoring of the progress of the projects on the second EU list of PCIs adopted in November 2015, for the 12-month period from January 2015 to January 2016.  
The main findings of the report are the following:

• Overall, progress in implementing the PCIs is limited. The vast majority of the PCIs are delayed compared to their original schedule. For about a quarter of the electricity and gas PCIs, no progress was reported during last year. Permit granting difficulties are cited as one of the main causes for such delays.
   
• Most commissioning of the PCIs is expected to take place in the coming 7 years. However, for this to be realised, the pace of asset construction would need to be considerably higher than what it was in the past year, which seems highly unrealistic. Also, according to the project promoters, 82 billion euros should be invested for gas and electricity PCIs together between now and 2022. In comparison with historical investment levels, this seems unrealistically high.
   
• Project promoters indicate a limited interest in regulatory incentives or public financial support.

The Agency’s findings may serve as an input to the European Commission’s report (due in 2017) evaluating the implementation of the PCIs and the effectiveness of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013.

The report can be found here.