The European Commission has launched a European Grids Package to modernise the continent’s energy infrastructure and “unleash its full potential.”
The Commission said its European Grids Package and the Energy Highways initiative will enable energy to flow efficiently across all Member States, integrating cheaper clean energy and accelerating electrification. This, it said, will help lower energy prices.
The package includes proposals to create a more robust process for cross-border energy infrastructure planning, speed up permitting, ensure more effective mechanisms to share the costs and benefits of cross-border projects, as well as making cross-border infrastructure more resilient and secure.
Taken altogether, it said that these proposals will support the development of renewables and clean energy in the EU energy system.
The Energy Highways initiative, in particular, will address 8 key bottlenecks across Europe which represent the most urgent energy infrastructure needs. This includes the Bornholm Energy Island project aimed at creating an offshore interconnector hub between Denmark and Germany.
The Commission estimates that €1.2 trillion will be needed in EU’s electricity grids until 2040, including €730 billion for distribution grids alone, and €240 billion for hydrogen networks.
The package proposes an EU cross-border energy infrastructure planning process that enables more coordinated identification of needs, ensuring projects are aligned with both current and future European objectives.
It is also proposing additional ways of financing such as cost-sharing and the establishment of special purpose vehicles.
Iberdrola executive chairman Ignacio Galán has welcomed the European Commission’s EU Grids Package, calling it a key milestone for Europe’s security of supply and competitiveness.
Galán said: “The Grids package presented by the Commission is a key milestone to promote Europe’s security of supply and competitiveness through electrification.”
He added: “Electricity grids are essential to take full advantage of the expansion of indigenous renewables and storage infrastructures to enable new uses of electricity and reduce energy costs to our industries and households.”
Galán stated: “I would like to congratulate the Commission for highlighting the sense of urgency and necessity of grid investments and the key tools to accelerate them: prioritizing critical projects to reduce bottlenecks, speeding up permitting procedures and incentivizing investments through stable regulatory frameworks”.
He said: “Now, it is essential that the Commission and Member States work together to implement these measures and remove any obstacles to investments in grids, paying also special attention to lower voltage distribution networks, which are essential to enable EU industries and citizens to benefit from clean, homegrown and affordable electricity”.
Galán added: “At Iberdrola, the largest utility in the European Union, we stand ready to do our part and continue investing and creating jobs in the European Union.”