6By Decision No 05/2018 of 19 June 2018 (‘the decision of the Agency’), ACER refused the request for an exemption for the Aquind interconnector. It took the view that although the applicant satisfied the conditions for obtaining an exemption listed in Article 17(1)(a) and (c) to (f) of Regulation No 714/2009, the condition laid down in Article 17(1)(b) thereof, according to which the level of risk attached to the investment must be such that the investment would not take place unless an exemption is granted, was not satisfied. In particular, it noted that in April 2018, the Aquind interconnector had obtained the status of project of common interest and that, as such, the applicant was entitled to request the application of Article 12 of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2013 on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure and repealing Decision No 1364/2006/EC and amending Regulations (EC) No 713/2009, (EC) No 714/2009 and (EC) No 715/2009 (OJ 2013 L 115, p. 39), which provides for the possibility of cross-border cost allocation. Nonetheless, the applicant had not made such a request. ACER thus found that it could not be ruled out that financial support under the regulated scheme might be available for the Aquind interconnector and concluded that it was not in a position to identify, with the required certainty, the existence of risk based on the lack of financial support from the regulated scheme with regard to that interconnector. It also found that the revenue risk, the exceptional market risk, the risk linked to direct competition with other interconnectors and congestion revenue uncertainty, the risk of curtailment of the UK network, the risk associated with construction of the Aquind interconnector, and political and macroeconomic risks, particularly those stemming from Brexit, were insufficient or had not been demonstrated.
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