Europe requires 35,000 kilometers of transmission lines

Tuesday, Mar 02, 2010

Europe needs 35,000 kilometers of new transmission lines and 7,000 km of existing line upgrades to meet its goals, said the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity.

The power grid group proposed in a report 500 projects across 34 countries for the next five years worth between 23 to 28 billion euros.

The report was titled the Ten-Year Network Development Plan. The objectives of the plan are to ensure transparency regarding electricity transmission networks and to support decision-making processes at the regional level, according to the press release published Monday on the group’s Web site, which includes 42 national grid companies from 34 countries.

Out of the total 42,000 km of cables, which represents 14 percent of the existing transmission lines, operators plan to complete 44 percent in the next five years and the rest in the following five-year period, the Brussels-based group said.

The report points to significant investments in the European power grid in order to help achieve European energy policy goals, such as increasing the use of renewable energy sources to 20 percent of the total energy production by 2020; further promoting the internal energy market by alleviating congestion on the transmission network; and ensuring the security of supply and system reliability of an increasingly complex transmission system connecting 525 million citizens.

This pilot plan can become an important policy input for the definition of the national renewable energy action plans, which are to be delivered by European Union member states by the end of June 2010, according to the statement.

The consultation period on the development plan starts March 1 and ends Apr. 11.

Source: Hürriyet Daily News