By Kate Abnett and Julia Payne
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union will set out how its member countries should jointly develop major renewable energy projects, in a bid to avoid projects being delayed by disputes over splitting the bill, a document seen by Reuters showed.
As Europe’s shift to low-carbon energy gathers pace, countries are planning major new wind farms and other off-shore energy projects that will link to multiple nations.
How governments and companies in these countries split the bill for such projects is an open question, and Brussels is concerned that disputes over who should pay could hamper the build-out of these major new green energy hubs.
“We don’t underestimate the potential for conflicts, disputes and delay in projects of this complexity,” a senior EU official said.
Draft European Commission guidelines, due to be published this week and seen by Reuters, will provide a basis for governments to negotiate deals on these major offshore renewable energy projects.
For example, countries should consider skimming off a share of these congestion revenues and putting the cash in a fund that could invest in future renewable energy projects benefiting multiple countries in the region, the draft said.
Such a scheme “would address investment gaps persistently difficult to fill”, for major cross-border energy projects, the draft said.
Other ways to cover financing gaps could include “statistical transfer” deals in which one country invests in a renewable project in another country, in exchange for receiving credits that the investing country can count towards meeting its renewable energy goals, the draft said.
Belgium and France are currently at odds over a major new wind farm planned off the coast of Dunkirk, which Belgium wants moved to a different site.
Countries could also explore new ways to jointly own such projects, including by launching new offshore power transmission entities to develop offshore power grid projects linked to multiple countries, the draft said.
It also urged countries to decide early how to share congestion income that a project will eventually generate – and consider splitting this based not only on the split in ownership of the project, but also the cost of operating it.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett and Julia Payne; Editing by Andrea Ricci)