The first-ever cross-border tender to support renewable energy in the EU has been adopted by the Commission today. The tender is organised in the framework of the renewable energy financing mechanism (RENEWFM) and builds on the commitments by Luxembourg and Finland to cooperate under this new instrument. Luxembourg is contributing with a voluntary payment of €40 million and Finland hosts the projects which will compete for the support.

The tender takes the form of a call for proposals, implemented by the European Climate Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). The call will be open for submission as from 18 April in the funding and tender portal. It will disburse grants to project developers for setting up new renewable energy projects using solar photovoltaic technology. Eligible participants in the call are companies which will build a new solar PV installation with a capacity between 5 and 100 MW and comply with the rules of the tender, designed in close cooperation with Luxembourg and Finland.

The call for proposals is the first cross-border tender between EU countries. It marks a new stage of cooperation in the area of renewables and fulfils the objectives of the European Green Deal and REPowerEU. The tender will contribute to the rapid early development of large-scale solar PV projects in Finland and will give Luxembourg access to renewables potential beyond its territory. The two countries will share the statistical benefits of the generated renewable energy by the supported projects for the next 15 years.

The call will be open for six months, after which CINEA will evaluate the competing offers and will award the successful project(s) on the basis of the lowest bid price until the budget is used up. The chosen projects will have to build the installation within 24 months and will generate a minimum amount of renewable electricity in the next years.

The Commission is optimistic that the publication of this first tender will stimulate interest in other EU countries, and will highlight the benefits of such cooperation.