EU boosts zero-emission mobility with over €424 million in funding for 42 projects

The European Commission has announced a selection of 42 projects that are to receive over EUR 424 million in EU support to deploy Alternative Fuels Infrastructure (AFI). These projects have been selected under the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF) of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the EU funding programme supporting European transport infrastructure.

The projects range from the installation of electric charging points and hydrogen refuelling stations, as well as the electrification of airports. These actions will support and bring Europe closer to its Green Deal goals and are in direct support of the new regulation for the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure (AFIR), and the objectives set out in the ReFuelEU aviation and the FuelEU maritime Regulations.

As part of AFIF’s final selection round, calls for proposals with a deadline of 7 November 2023 were submitted, after which 42 projects were subsequently selected to receive the EU grant support. This funding is also coupled with financing from major financial institutions to achieve a higher impact.

With this decision, AFIF will support the introduction of approximately 4,200 electric recharging points across the EU's trans-European transport (TEN-T) network, as well as 48 hydrogen refuelling stations for vehicles and the introduction of electric 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 objective of CEF and AFIF is to support the deployment of alternative fuel supply infrastructure across Europe’s transport sector. For the period 2024-2025, with a total budget of EUR 1 billion, AFIF will continue to fund projects to work towards this goal.

The new AFIF call for applications is currently open. The deadline for this submission round is 24 September 2024.

For more information:

• List of selected projects
• Background document on the call
• Connecting Europe Facility 2021-2027
• Call's webpage 
• Transport Infrastructure & Investment