June 8 (SeeNews) - The European Union's Modernisation Fund disbursed 2.4 billion euro ($2.6 billion) to help modernise energy systems, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency in seven member states, the European Commission said on Thursday.
"These investments help those member states to reduce dependency on Russian fossil fuels, meet their 2030 climate and energy targets, and contribute to the EU's long-term commitment to reaching climate neutrality by 2050," the European Commission said in a press release.
Of the total, 1.1 billion euro were invested in Romania, as part of the funds went towards building renewable energy capacities that will replace coal.
Some 197 million euro were invested in the modernisation of the electricity distribution grid in Bulgaria to accelerate the electrification of transport, storage deployment, and the decarbonisation and decentralisation of energy consumption and production.
A total 88 million euro were invested in Croatia, supporting the deployment of photovoltaic and energy storage capacity for public water service providers.
The Modernisation Fund supports investments that align with the 2030 climate and energy objectives of the Union, as well as the Paris Agreement, involving the decarbonisation of key sectors, renewable energy expansion, energy efficiency enhancements, sustainable transportation initiatives, and the promotion of circular economy practices.
The EU said its next deadline for the programme’s members to submit investment proposals is September 12, 2023 for proposals that closely align with the EU objectives, and August 15, 2023, for proposals with a non-direct alignment.
($ = 0.9313 euro)