In order to help deliver an environmentally sustainable transport network that contributes to the ambitious objectives laid out in the EU Green Deal, the European Union will support 42 projects with more than EUR 424 million of funding for the roll-out of alternative fuels supply infrastructure.
They have been selected under the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF) of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the EU funding programme supporting European transport infrastructure.
Under the fifth and last selection round of the first AFIF call for proposals for which the submission deadline was 7 November 2023, 42 projects have been selected to receive in total EUR 424 million of EU grant support. This funding is coupled with financing from major financial institutions to achieve a higher impact of the EU grants.
With this selection, AFIF will support approximately 4,200 EV charging points along the European TEN-T road network, 48 hydrogen refuelling stations for cars, trucks and buses and the electrification of ground handling services in 21 airports.
European Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean, said: “Since 2021, the EU has granted over EUR 1.3 billion through AFIF to several projects, deploying 26,396 electric recharging points, 202 hydrogen refuelling stations, and electrifying ground operations in 63 airports. This last call was the most successful regarding the projects’ number and quality so far, showing the growing interest in hydrogen and electric charging infrastructure.”
The Director of the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), Paloma Aba Garrote, also stated: “We continue to support projects of paramount importance to the realisation of the objectives laid out under the EU Green Deal. With this new selection, the European Union is showing that a transition to zero-emission transport through alternative fuels is not a dream for the future, but something that is happening now across the EU”.