TenneT has launched a new approach designed to cope with the “tremendous challenges” of the energy transition.
The objective is to have an electricity grid in place by 2045 for a “flourishing, sustainable” economy, with enough green electricity.
The initial version of Target Grid, including an associated grid map for 2045, proposes a network of direct current (DC) superhighways and energy hubs, the DC grid (electricity superhighways) and a significantly improved existing alternating current (AC) grid.
Both Germany and the Netherlands are faced with enormous and similar challenges: more than a doubling of electricity consumption, a five to 10 times increase in generation capacity, significant levels of required flexibility and, for each country, approximately 70GW of offshore wind.
Manon van Beek, TenneT CEO, said: “Our infrastructure is crucial to such a degree that we are putting it in the driver’s seat so to speak, so that TenneT can start working on what is needed on time, rather than ten or fifteen years from now when it is too late.
“We can no longer afford to work at a defined pace from ‘bottleneck to bottleneck’.
“For grid development (onshore and offshore) at this scale and in a European context 2030 is tomorrow, 2040 is next week and 2050 is next month.”
Target Grid is based on the highest electrification scenarios of the Dutch II3050 (Integrated Infrastructure Survey 2030-2050) and the German NEP2023 (Grid Development Plan).
As a result, the Netherlands and large parts of Germany will end up having a network configured to support a fully renewable energy system, which is sufficiently robust to ensure security of supply.
Target Grid makes it possible for the North Sea to become a genuinely sustainable green hub for the supply of electrons at the heart of the European energy transition.
With the presentation of Target Grid, TenneT is kicking off a dialogue with stakeholders aiming to further develop Target Grid.
These include the development of a North Sea country strategy 2050 with clear agreements between the North Sea countries.