Latest industry assessment shows significant
development in long-distance transmission. Technology
advances either on par or ahead of predicted
curve.
Releasing the 3rd update of their Roadmap to
the Supergrid Technologies the Friends of the
Supergrid, a European industrial initiative employing
more than €291.000.000.000 people globally,
has confirmed that regulatory and not technical
barriers are blocking the creation of a single
electricity market across Europe.
The Report, which confirms that there are no
insurmountable technological ’hurdles‘to
the creation of a pan-European transmission network,
is published to coincide with the final discussions
between EU Member States on the 2030 Climate
and Energy package.
Ana Aguado, CEO of FOSG said: “This Report
makes clear that the benefits to European consumers
from a single electricity market will only be
delivered if policymakers clear the regulatory
barriers that currently block the building of
a meshed grid network linking member states.
We need a network, not a patchwork, if we are
to deliver the full benefits of Europe’s
transition to a low carbon economy. Technology
is not a barrier, and it is already being used
in other parts of the world to create networks
of low carbon power, while Europe continues to
sit in the slow lane.”
Since the first edition of the FOSG Roadmap
published in 2012, the development of Supergrid
technology has shown significant progress. The
predicted advances in technologies towards high-voltage
direct current (HVDC) voltage source converters
(VSC) and HVDC cable system technologies are
on par with or ahead of the first technology
roadmap scenarios.
The underlying technology, VSC-HVDC transmission,
has matured significantly since the first project
was introduced 15 years ago. The benefits can
also be seen in the increasing number of large-scale
HVDC projects in operation, construction and
planning, not just in Europe.
A HVDC-based pan-continental Supergrid would
be built in phases and be combined with the present
network based on alternating current. Transmission
and Independent System Operators can already
plan for future network development based on
the likely availability of key VSC grid technologies
such as control and protection methods, main
circuit design, grid master control, off-shore
operation experience and selective fault clearance
techniques, such as DC breakers. This should
give confidence to specify grid-enabled point-to-point
connections that could be expanded to multi-terminal
schemes, which will be the building blocks for
a larger overlaid Supergrid.
Technology will not be the bottleneck in the
development of the new European transmission
network. The critical time-line for introduction
of new technology lies primarily in the solution
of non-technical issues such as harmonization
of grid codes, regulatory procedures and revenue
models that will create a strong market growth
and technology push.
The EU, working through initiatives like the
Connecting Europe Fund, must shorten the current
lead time for grid infrastructure, so that
a properly functioning single market, underpinned
by a HVDC network, can be in place by the end
of the decade.
The report will be launched at the FOSG, Climate
Parliament and Dii event on 25 June 2014 during
EUSEW on Supergrid for Europe and the neighbouring
countries .