€650 million for cross-border energy infrastructure — and a notable shift for hydrogen
The European Commission has approved around €650 million under CEF Energy for 14 cross-border electricity and hydrogen infrastructure projects, including a notable first: EU funding for works on a hydrogen storage project. For Latvia and the Baltics, this is a timely signal to accelerate not only studies, but also investable infrastructure concepts—potentially including hydrogen storage in geological formations and exploring aquifer options alongside regional planning.
NEWS
HydrogenLatvia
2/4/20262 min read
The European Commission has approved around €650 million under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for Energy to support 14 cross-border energy infrastructure projects labelled as Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) and Projects of Mutual Interest (PMIs). The package spans electricity infrastructure (including smart grids) and hydrogen infrastructure, across 13 Member States, including Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
What makes this round especially relevant for the hydrogen sector is not only the continued support for studies (which are essential for permitting, routing, safety cases, and bankability), but the clear signal that EU funding is now also moving into more “vital” hydrogen infrastructure. In particular, the Commission highlights the first CEF Energy grant for works for a hydrogen project: Hydrogen Storage Gronau-Epe (RWE) in Germany.
This matters because hydrogen strategies across Europe are increasingly hitting the same practical bottleneck: without storage, hydrogen cannot reliably serve as a system-level decarbonisation tool.
Where the money goes: grids, resilience, and hydrogen infrastructure
According to the public summaries, the funding is structured roughly as follows:
~€470 million for the electricity sector (including smart grids)
~€113 million within that electricity envelope for protection and resilience of critical energy infrastructure in Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (physical and cyber threats)
~€176 million for hydrogen infrastructure upgrades
The hydrogen side includes one “works” project (the storage project in Germany) and multiple study-phase projects supporting terminals and backbone development.
The key point for hydrogen: storage is not “nice to have”
Hydrogen storage is often discussed as a later-stage add-on. In reality, it is one of the enabling assets that determines whether hydrogen can:
balance variable renewable electricity (absorbing curtailment and supporting peak shaving)
provide firm supply for industry and future fuels (including PtX and SAF pathways)
stabilise early hydrogen demand growth by smoothing production and offtake mismatches
reduce the cost of infrastructure utilisation by improving load factors
In short: storage turns hydrogen from a project-by-project molecule into a system resource.
Why this is strategically relevant for Latvia and the Baltics
For Latvia and the wider Baltic region, the CEF Energy decision is a reminder that cross-border infrastructure is where EU-level funding can be most catalytic. The Baltics are simultaneously dealing with:
rapid renewable build-out and increasing need for system flexibility
energy security requirements and infrastructure resilience
industrial decarbonisation pressures (and competitiveness risks)
the need to connect emerging hydrogen value chains across borders
Hydrogen will not scale in the Baltics on “pilot logic” alone. It will require regional planning, shared infrastructure, and public co-investment that de-risks first-of-a-kind assets.
A Baltic storage question worth taking seriously: could Latvia explore aquifer hydrogen storage?
Latvia has long experience with large-scale subsurface gas storage through the Inčukalns Underground Gas Storage facility. While hydrogen is not methane and cannot be assumed compatible with existing assets, the broader point is important: Latvia is one of the few countries in the region where subsurface storage is already part of the energy system mindset.
That raises a strategic question: should Latvia and regional partners accelerate structured work on hydrogen storage potential in suitable geological formations, including aquifers, as part of a future Baltic hydrogen backbone and PtX ecosystem?
A serious exploration would require (at minimum):
geological screening and data consolidation (porosity, permeability, caprock integrity)
hydrogen-specific risk assessment (microbial activity, geochemical reactions, leakage pathways)
monitoring and verification concepts suited to hydrogen
integration studies: how storage would interact with renewables, grids, and industrial demand
regulatory and safety frameworks aligned with EU rules and best practice
The CEF Energy signal is clear: Europe is starting to fund not only “paper hydrogen”, but also the infrastructure that makes hydrogen operationally credible. For the Baltics, the opportunity is to position projects that move beyond isolated studies and into regionally meaningful assets—including storage—where public funding can unlock private capital and real deployment.
Source: CEF Energy: €650 million allocated to 14 cross-border energy infrastructure projects