EU Grids Package Could End Fragmented National Planning for Europe’s Electricity Highways

As part of a wide-ranging package to accelerate the build-out of the EU’s energy grids, the European Commission has proposed establishing a Central European Scenario. If agreed, this could go a long way toward ending today’s inadequate national-level approach to planning Europe’s electricity highways.

Responding to the proposed European Grids Package, SupergridEurope Executive Director Christian Kjaer said:

“The European Commission’s proposal to introduce a long-term European Central Scenario to guide planning of a European Supergrid, should be wholeheartedly supported by any European nation concerned about energy security, Russian energy dependence, high electricity prices, a competitive Europe and the heating Planet.”

SupergridEurope has long advocated for pan-European grid planning carried out by an independent agency, alongside more independent system operation. This approach would help address transparency gaps and conflicts of interest in the EU’s existing grid governance framework.

Under the proposal, the Commission would be able to set a single ‘central scenario’ for electricity, hydrogen and gas. This scenario would then be used across key EU planning processes, including the Union-wide Ten-Year Network Development Plan (TYNDP), infrastructure needs assessments, system-wide cost-benefit analysis, and decisions on cross-border cost allocation for energy projects.

EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen has called the European Grids Package “a major step towards building a 21st-century European Supergrid.” It could be, but strong support from progressive Member States and the European Parliament will be essential to preserve this sorely needed top-down approach in the final regulation.

Read the full European Commission’s EU Grids Package proposal here.