EU power grids needs Eur104 bn by 2022: Entso-e

London, 8 July 2012

Platts: EU power transmission system operators need to spend Eur104 billion ($128 billion) between 2012 and 2022 to refurbish or build roughly 52,000 kilometers of high-voltage power transmission lines, EU power TSO body Entso-e said as it published its latest 10-year network development plan Thursday.

The spending projection is in line with European Commission projections that a total of Eur200 billion needs to be spent in the next 10 years on power and gas infrastructure.

Entso-e said the spending would be clustered into around 100 major investment projects across Europe, mainly to address the growth of renewable energy.

"The fast and massive development of renewable energy sources drives larger, more volatile, power flows over longer distances across Europe and is responsible for 80 out of 100 identified bottlenecks.

Under new rules set out in the EU's third package of energy market reforms, Entso-e, and gas TSO body Entsog, have to publish 10-year network development plans at two-year intervals. It published its first in 2010.

PERMITTING PROBLEMS

It said many of the concerns identified in the 2010-20 plan still remain, with the main obstacles still a slow and cumbersome permitting process and lack of public acceptance for new power lines.

"All European TSOs are urging the European Commission and Parliament to move ahead with the Draft Regulation on Guidelines for Energy Infrastructure Priorities and, in particular, its provisions on streamlining permit granting procedures through a three-year time limit and the so-called one-stop-shops," Entso-e president Daniel Dobbeni said in a statement on the plan.

Entso-e said extending the European grid by just 1.3% a year would support annual increases of 3% in generation and the integration of 125 GW of new renewable power capacity. And the cost to consumers would be less than Eur0.02/kWh.

It also said that it would propose a cost-benefit analysis methodology for evaluating "Projects of Common Interest" after the summer break.

The EC has designated 416 energy infrastructure projects as Projects of Common Interest, with a view to requiring national governments to fast-track them through a designated permitting process. It is currently consulting stakeholders on the final list.

Entso-e's 10-year plan now goes forward to EU energy regulatory agency, ACER, for approval.

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