Nov. 2, 2011 - thenews.com.pk

Along with the gradual integration of the European internal energy market and the first prospects of cross-border energy trade came the idea for the creation of a pan-European grid that would allow electricity to be traded and shipped all acrossEurope, in a truly integrated manner.

Such a ‘supergrid’ would facilitate the integration of large-scale renewable energy and the balancing and transportation of electricity and improve the overall functioning of the European energy market.

In an exclusive interview with Revolve Magazine, Ms. Ana Aguado, CEO of the ‘Friends of the Supergrid’ (FOSG) – a representative organisation to the European institutions that brokers the interests of a group of companies and organisations which together wish to promote and influence the required policy and regulatory framework for a supergrid – explains her view on the creation of a pan-European electricity grid.

According to Aguado “the supergrid would not constitute an extension of planned point to point High-Voltage Direct Current (HDVC)[1] interconnectors between individual EU Member States. Rather, the idea is to create so-called ‘supernodes’ which collect, integrate and route renewable energy to the best available markets.”

A recent study on Offshore Electricity Infrastructure in Europe under the coordination of 3E, pointed out that when using hub connections for offshore wind farms – as opposed to connecting each wind farm individually to shore – €14 billion worth of investments could be saved.

Aguado comments that on top of this “a meshed network has the advantage that in case of insufficient wind at sea, you can connect onshore power via the sea to another country. A stand-alone initiative would die out instead.”

The initial phase of the Supergrid focuses mainly on the North Sea, which upon construction should link into other initiatives such as Medgrid and Desertec to form a truly pan-European Supergrid that taps into the full potential of renewable energy sources in Europe andNorth Africa. Or as Ms. Aguado put it: “in the South because of the available solar energy, inCentral Europe for its hydroelectric potential and in the North because of the sea and wind, without forgetting other renewable energy sources such as geothermal and biomass.”

Reforming the current regulatory framework is as important as the actual construction of a Supergrid. According to Aguado, this is where most work is still needed: “What is important is that there is a gradual harmonisation of support schemes for renewable energy. Only in this way can you create a renewable energy market that truly works and secures the needed investments. If there is proper coordination, you can avoid situations where renewable energy is discriminated depending on the country/market of origin due to a difference in local support schemes.”

At European level, Ms. Aguado pleads for an expansion of the powers of organisations such as the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). Furthermore, she claims that plans such as the European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E)’s Ten Year Network Development Plan (TYNDP) should not only be the product of national transmission needs. A new version of the TYNDP is expected in June 2012.

“A Supergrid should be designed at the European level and should take into account offshore connections – a thing the TYNDP could not do in 2010”. – Ana Aguado, CEO of Friends of the Supergrid.

Whether a pan-European Supergrid will ever become operational in the future remains to be seen – particularly in light of the EU’s current debt crisis. The high costs of investment are often invoked against the creation of much needed infrastructure for large-scale renewable energy integration. However, looking at the longer term, one cannot help but feel that this view seems somewhat short-sighted.

Indeed, if one takes into account the improvements in security of supply in terms of a reduced dependency on imported hydrocarbons, the long-term cost-savings would greatly outweigh initial investments. Moreover, the FOSG are right to point out that when such investments in renewable energy infrastructure are made, putting your money in stand-alone country-by-country networks will only allow support schemes to continue to differ from one country to another.Europe’s renewable energy potential thus remains underutilised.

Ultimately, if the EU is to make good on its pledges to decarbonise its economy by 2050, investments in renewable energy and related technologies should greatly increase and be geared towards having the greatest possible impact, making maximal use of the available potential. Having said that, investing in a Supergrid seems not such a bad idea at all.

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