The European Commission has chosen 20 energy infrastructure projects that will receive a share of a €150 million (£106m) fund.

They were picked following a call for proposals under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), an EU funding programme for infrastructure.

Most of the support will go to projects in Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe as well as to those in the Baltic region.

Some of the projects in the electricity sector, which will receive €70 million (£49.5m) in total, include feasibility studies for the Celtic interconnector which will link France and Ireland and the construction of a new 400 kilovolt transmission line in Bulgaria.

Those in the gas sector, which will get €80 million (£56.5m) in financial aid, include studies on how to remove “major obstacles” to the free flow of gas in the EU and research for the Chiren underground gas storage expansion project in Bulgaria.

Arias Cañete, European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel said: “The completion of a truly competitive EU-wide energy market is essential in order to turn the Energy Union into a reality. But without reliable and well-connected energy networks this will not happen.”

A total of €5.35 billion (£3.8bn) has been allocated for energy infrastructure for the period of 2014-2020 under the CEF.