A new €104 billion plan for a pan-European electricity network would cost less than 1% of the consumers’ total electricity bill. The plan – drawn up by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) – would bring Europe a step closer to a pan-European grid.

The plan comes as MEPs and Member States debate the European Commission’s draft infrastructure package published in November 2011. The package proposes Eur9.1 billion for funding energy infrastructure projects considered ‘of common interest’ (PCIs) and aims to speed up lengthy grid permitting processes.

“ENTSO-E’s first official 10-year network development plan is a step towards a pan-European grid. But the relationship between this plan and the Commission’s infrastructure proposals is unclear,” points out Paul Wilczek, senior regulatory Affairs advisor to the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA). “ENTSO-E’s plan now includes Europe’s 2020 renewable energy targets in the scenario development, an important point that was missing in the previous ‘pilot’ plan.”

He adds: “This plan must now be taken as a blueprint for the future of Europe’s grids, but it is not yet clear whether the Commission will consider supporting projects not included in ENTSO-E’s plan. EWEA believes viable and useful projects should be supported even if they are not yet part of the latest ENTSO-E plan.”

ENTSO-E’s plan also finds:

* One in three planned grid investment projects are currently being delayed due to lengthy permitting procedures – further underscoring the need for faster permitting procedures as outlined in the Commission’s infrastructure package.

* Interconnection projects that integrate renewable energies could save the emission of 170 million tonnes of carbon – the equivalent to taking 86 million cars off the road in Europe.

Turkey will connect to the European electrical grid this September using GE’s smart grid technology. The connection will allow for expanded energy and economic opportunities.

The Turkish Electricity Transmission Company (TEIAS) will now be able to buy and sell power in the European electricity market and the connection will strengthen the reliability and availability of energy throughout all of Europe.

The territory serviced by ENTSO-E (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity) is one of the highest demand regions for energy in the world, according to a report issued in 2009 by the Ministry of Energy. ‘The energy policies of ENTSO-E’s countries are driving a single market model through the synchronization of more networks, thus increasing the reliability of the supply of electricity to maximize the efficiency of generation, transmission, distribution and consumption of energy while minimizing environmental impact,’ says the report.

Connecting Turkey with the rest of the European grid is an important step to help meet these initiatives. The cross-border system may also enable a new, cleaner energy mix for Europe. There is a demand for renewable energy in European countries, and Turkey has massive renewable energy sources, which makes this new relationship mutually beneficial to both TEIAS and ENTSO-E.

“Smart grid solutions are opening energy opportunities in new ways every day,” says Yavuz Aydin, director of GE Energy Services, Turkey. “Our communications and control technologies are enabling international trade and power-sharing breakthroughs that seemed nearly impossible just a few years ago. When Turkey joins the European energy community, it will be a vital step forward for power systems on both sides of the connection.”

GE’s smart grid communications and wide area protection solutions will monitor grid status at the points of connection and automate the control of generation and load within Turkey. The system will optimise power sharing and power quality while improving reliability and preventing cascading outages.  

GE completed the engineering for the system in a matter of months. Currently in the final phases of testing, GE’s wide-area protection solutions should enable the first inter-connection of Turkey’s and European grids in September.