IN Brief:
- Electricity transmission and storage projects can apply for PCI or PMI status until 13 November.
- Smart-grid candidates have until 4 December under the revised TEN-E infrastructure framework.
- Successful projects can move towards regulatory advantages and future eligibility for CEF Energy support.
The European Commission has opened the next application round for cross-border electricity infrastructure seeking Project of Common Interest or Project of Mutual Interest status under the TEN-E Regulation.
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy is accepting applications for electricity transmission and storage projects until 13 November 2026. Smart electricity grid, smart gas grid, and projects covered by Article 24 of TEN-E have until 4 December, while the separate hydrogen, electrolyser, and carbon dioxide infrastructure window remains open until 30 September.
The call begins the selection process for the third Union list of PCIs and PMIs under the revised TEN-E framework. Projects that clear the eligibility stage will be assessed and ranked through regional and thematic groups, followed by consultation with national regulators, public consultation, technical evaluation, an ACER opinion, and final high-level decision-making.
For electricity transmission and storage, the Commission’s timetable runs from submissions closing in November through system-needs work over the winter and project assessment from February to May 2027. Technical decision-making follows in May and June, with ACER’s opinion expected between June and September. The final Union list is due through the high-level process in the autumn, with the delegated act expected by the end of 2027 and entry into force in early 2028.
PCI and PMI status affects permitting, regulatory treatment, and access to European financing mechanisms. Projects of Common Interest must make a significant contribution to energy markets and system integration across at least two EU countries, while Projects of Mutual Interest connect EU infrastructure with neighbouring non-EU countries. Both categories are intended to capture schemes whose cross-border value is larger than their national footprint.
Eligible projects can benefit from accelerated planning and permit procedures and greater visibility to investors. They can also become eligible to seek Connecting Europe Facility Energy support for studies or construction, although designation does not itself guarantee grant funding.
That separates the current selection process from the €600 million CEF Energy call opened earlier in 2026. The funding call is available to qualifying projects already included on the second Union list; the September application round is assembling the candidate pool for the third list that will govern the next cycle.
Electricity and gas candidates must also appear in the latest available ten-year network development plan. The requirement ties individual applications to the system-needs work carried out by European network bodies and regional groups, rather than allowing projects to enter the PCI or PMI process solely on the basis of a promoter’s commercial case.
The range of eligible electricity infrastructure now extends beyond conventional cross-border transmission lines. Electricity storage and smart electricity grids sit inside the same strategic framework, reflecting a system in which flexibility, digital control, and network reinforcement increasingly have to be planned together.
Storage can provide cross-border value without permanently moving electricity from one country to another. An asset may relieve congestion, support adequacy, or improve the operation of interconnected markets, while smart-grid projects can coordinate network capacity and distributed resources across several jurisdictions. Those benefits still have to be demonstrated through the TEN-E assessment rather than assumed from the technology label.
The Commission’s regional groups will therefore examine project maturity, cost-benefit performance, and contribution to priority corridors alongside technical eligibility. A scheme can be feasible and nationally useful without qualifying for Union-list status if its wider market, security-of-supply, or system-integration benefits are insufficient.
The application round opens as European transmission investment is struggling to keep pace with new generation and demand. Renewable projects can often be developed faster than the high-voltage infrastructure needed to connect them, while industrial electrification, data-centre expansion, and new interconnection are placing additional pressure on network capacity in several regions.
Cross-border projects add a financing complication because costs and benefits are rarely distributed evenly between participating countries. A line may relieve congestion or strengthen adequacy in one market while delivering a different mix of price, security, and renewable-integration benefits elsewhere. The PCI and PMI framework gives regulators and governments a common process for assessing those effects.
A dedicated information webinar is scheduled for 30 September, giving promoters time to clarify the application route before the electricity deadline. After submissions close, the process shifts from individual project proposals towards common system-needs and cost-benefit assessment across the relevant corridors.
The third Union list will not be adopted until late 2027, but the infrastructure pipeline that could shape European transmission, storage, and smart-grid investment into the next decade is being assembled now. The projects entering this round are competing for a place in the regulatory and financing framework that will determine which cross-border schemes receive priority treatment in the following development cycle.
