The EU and Member States need to acknowledge the urgency and importance of major grid investments, according to a joint statement by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E), the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), the German Engineering Federation (VDMA Power Systems) and the German Wind Energy Association (BWE).
The EU and
Member States need to acknowledge the urgency and importance of major
grid investments, according to a joint statement by the European Network
of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E), the
European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), the German Engineering
Federation (VDMA Power Systems) and the German Wind Energy Association
(BWE). The statement was issued to mark the start of a major conference
organised by EWEA together with ENTSO-E, VDMA Power Systems and BWE in
Berlin on Europe’s electricity grids, GRIDS 2010. It comes just one week
after the European Commission proposed a blueprint for an integrated
European energy network which will now be considered by the Member
States and the European Parliament. The blueprint proposes a new
financial instrument and faster permitting procedures for ‘electricity
highways’ of European priority.
The four
organisations say that the EU and Member States should:
• speed up permitting for grid investments,
• support speedy integration of wholesale electricity
markets in Europe, and
• help finance
new infrastructure through adequate and stable regulation and, when
needed, EU funds and European banks.
The statement goes on to
underline: “the European Union, Member States, and regulators must make
it a priority to set appropriate regulatory and financial frameworks to
facilitate cross-border interconnection capacities, key European
corridors for electricity trade, offshore grids, and even a future
supergrid.”
Christian Kjaer, Chief Executive of EWEA, said: “Grid
operators, the wind industry and power system engineers are sending a
clear message to Europe’s politicians. A quarter of a century ago
Europe’s leaders agreed on the Single European Act, creating the free
movement of goods, services, capital and labour, to the benefit of
European citizens everywhere. It is about time that Europe’s current
leaders add a fifth freedom: the free movement of electricity throughout
Europe.”
Daniel Dobbeni,
President of ENTSO-E, said “All concerned parties agree about the
urgency and importance of grid investments. Generating a common
understanding of the gap between the present and future situations in
terms of integration for wind energy, EU-wide transmission capacities,
offshore girds or supergrids is a major step forward towards achieving
the 2020 objectives as well as for policy initiatives like the
Commission’s blueprint for an integrated EU energy network.
Hermann Albers, President of BWE, the
German Wind Energy Association, said: "Wind energy will contribute
significantly to the achievement of the ambitious renewable energy
targets set by the European Union for 2020. For fully exploiting all
benefits derived from the growth in wind power, grid integration and
grid extension are essential prerequisites - both at the national and at
the European level.”
Thorsten Herdan, Managing Director VDMA
Power Systems, said: “For the future success of manufacturers of wind
turbines and all other power systems on the European market the
optimisation, reinforcement and extension of the power grid has to keep
up with the speed of the change of the power mix. Modern turbines,
engines and storage are part of the solution. Without major grid
investments even the most modern power systems will not secure supply.”
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