ACER has published the 7th edition of its annual report on the progress of electricity and gas Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) for trans-European energy infrastructure.
Overall, ACER notes a positive trend in their advancement:
- about two-thirds of the electricity and gas PCIs are already in permit granting, under construction or commissioned, while about one-third of them are less advanced, being under consideration or planned, but not yet in the permitting phase,
- the implementation of more than half of the PCIs progressed in a timely manner,
- 70% of the projects are expected to be implemented by 2025.
However, ACER notes that about 25% of the electricity and gas projects cumulate delays from year to year, and several additional projects are postponed by their promoters. ACER also identified some PCIs that did not advance their status over the past six years (with most of them remaining in the permitting phase). This led ACER to conclude that project promoters’ projections were too optimistic.
The report also warns about potentially non-robust PCIs, which did not carry out any work or activity during the reporting period, being on hold or rescheduled by the project promoters for at least 2 years, and/or failed to move forward from an early advancement status for several years.
ACER calls for additional scrutiny during the PCI selection for such projects to ensure the robustness of the 5th PCI list, so that only projects which are clearly a priority are included.
