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* Funding of 5.85 bln euros to be shared among 250 projects
* TAP on European Commission's list
* Projects also eligible for fast-track planning approval
By Barbara Lewis and Nina Chestney
BRUSSELS/LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The European Commissionunveiled on Monday a list of 250 power and gas projects eligibleto share 5.85 billion euros ($7.93 billion) of funding as partof plans to curb reliance on Russian gas and create a singleenergy market.
The funds will be shared among trans-European energyinfrastructure projects from 2014 to 2020 with the aim ofhelping EU countries integrate their energy markets anddiversify sources of supply, the bloc's executive arm said.
The list includes up to 140 projects in the electricitytransmission and storage sector, around 100 projects in gastransmission, storage and liquefied natural gas (LNG), andseveral oil and smart-grid projects, a statement showed.
One of the most high-profile projects on the list is theTrans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), selected by a consortium in Juneto ship Azeri gas and help reduce the European Union'sdependence on Russian supplies.
The TAP pipeline will collect Azeri gas in Turkey and carryit across Greece and Albania before reaching southern Italy,stretching 870 km (540 miles).
Other schemes on the list include a Baltic LNG terminal andinfrastructure upgrades in the eastern Baltic Sea area, aimed atending the isolation of Baltic states and curbing their almosttotal dependence on Russia.
A gas pipeline from Bulgaria to Austria via Romania andHungary is also on the list, as well as a gas link from offshoreCyprus to Greece via Crete.
The full list can be viewed here:
TOWARDS A SINGLE MARKET
The Commission hopes the funds will trigger more privateinvestment. It has been estimated that 100 billion euros isneeded to improve transmission lines as part of a single,connected EU energy market with an increasing share of renewablepower.
The projects will also benefit from fast-tracked planningand less administrative costs, the EU executive said.
Under the streamlined process, approval should take amaximum of three years and six months. The Commission, utilitiesand infrastructure companies complain that local opposition hasheld up projects for years, even decades.
The European Commission had aimed to complete its singleenergy market by 2014 as part of a policy to achieve sustainableand secure energy supplies, but admitted this deadline would notbe achieved.
While EU policymakers strive to diversify supplies, part ofthe Russian response has been the giant South Stream pipelinethrough the Black Sea and Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Sloveniato northeast Italy. This was not on the EU list.
