EU to invest €263 million in energy infrastructure

European Commission (EC) announced Friday that member states agreed on commission’s proposal to invest €263 million in key trans-European energy infrastructure projects.

In total, nine projects were selected under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), an EU funding program for infrastructure, according to a statement by EC.

The lion's share of the money will go to the building of gas infrastructure in the Baltic Sea region and electricity infrastructure through the union.

"The selected projects will increase energy security and help enhance competition on the European energy market and thus contribute to ensuring that consumers get best value for their money," the announcement read.

Of the 9 proposals selected for funding, five are in the gas sector (EU support worth €210 million) and four in the electricity sector (EU support worth €53 million) while three of the projects relate to construction works (€236 million). and 6 to studies (€27 million).

European Commission proposal to select these projects was supported by the CEF Coordination Committee, which consists of representatives from all Member States.

Later this month, the commission will formally adopt the list of proposals which will receive financial assistance under CEF-Energy, the commission said.

According to the commission's web site, a total of €5.35 billion has been allocated to trans-European energy infrastructure for the period of 2014-2020 under CEF.

Additionally, 35 projects received €366 million in financial support in 2015.