Linking Renewables with a SuperSmart Grid in Europe and North Africa

The opportunity exists to harness all forms of renewable power at scale across Europe if this is supported by a single European power market united with a similar market in North Africa. This is the result of a new report released this week examining the potential for powering Europe and North Africa with renewable electricity exclusively by 2050. International energy and climate experts from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in collaboration with researchers of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the European Climate Forum (ECF) report that the transformation of the power sector would address energy security and supply concerns while decarbonising electricity generation and at the same time contribute to a substantial reduction in energy poverty.

For the first time this study has formulated a policy roadmap towards a 2050 goal of achieving a 100% renewable power sector in Europe and North Africa. The researchers studied the market in terms of financial, infrastructure and government policy milestones for policy makers and business to answer the “what if” question.

The roadmap addresses four critical areas of intervention: Policy, Markets, Investments and Infrastructure. Political leadership is the key element for achieving the vision. It has the ability to foster a stable, long term and transparent regulatory framework that will promote confidence with investors and enable the build-up of the required supply chain and grid infrastructure.

Download the complete report here 100-renewable_electricity-roadmap

An overview of the method used to develop the policy roadmap and details of the key messages that have emerged to date are provided here.

Key messages:

• The development of Europe wide business cases by 2015 for renewables and grid infrastructure projects at a European level, that include long term renewable (REN) and climate targets
• The build-up of significant renewable energy generation capacity by 2015 to harvest wind and solar potentials
• Phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies by 2020 and the development of a strategic timeline for phasing out financial support for renewable technologies
• Setting up of REN targets for North Africa by 2020
• The creation of a single European power market by 2020
• Strategic decommissioning of fossil fuel plants in the EU and North Africa beginning in 2030, leading to their wholesale replacement by large scale renewable power generation by 2040.“

The European Climate Forum (ECF) and the Climate Parliament in cooperation with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Renewables Grid Initiative (RGI) will present on Thursday, 17th December 2009 the following side-event at the COP 15:

“SuperSmart Grids - Pathways to a decarbonised power system”

Europe and other regions need to accelerate the delivery of SuperSmart Grids and renewables to reach a fully decarbonised power system by 2050 and meet the 2°C target. The integration of large amount of renewable energy sources in the grid is possible with current technologies, but policy makers need to lead the transformation by securing the necessary legislation on support mechanisms and regulatory reform.

Inputs from:

Ruth Davis, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
Nick Dunlop, Climate Parliament
Satu Hassi, European Parliament
Peter Höppe, Munich RE and DESERTEC Industrial Initiative (DII)
Ben Voorhorst, TenneT TSO/Transpower

A discussion chaired and moderated by Antonella Battaglini (PIK, ECF, RGI) will follow.

Click here to download the flyer.

Concentrating solar thermal power (CSTP) is increasingly discussed as a key low carbon electricity supply technology.

Click here to know more about it.

WWF, Germanwatch, Vattenfall Europe Transmission and TenneT
promote full grid integration of renewable energies.

Click here to view and download the Memorandum.

Europe needs a better electricity grid for renewables. It is necessary to:
- Fully integrate localised and decentralised renewable supplies
- Fully integrate large-scale offshore wind and concentrated solar power
- Facilitate the possibility to recover investments in both high voltage DC and AC lines
- Deploy innovative and smart grid technologies to foster energy conservation potentials

Click here to download the full version of the press release.

Renewables-Grid-Initiative announces initial partners:
WWF, Germanwatch, Vattenfall Europe Transmission and TenneT

Renewables-Grid-Initiative brings together NGOs and TSOs
 to promote full grid integration of renewable energies.

Date: Friday, 3 July 2009, 1 pm – 2 pm
Venue: Bundespresseamt, Reichstagsufer 14, 10117 Berlin

With:
- Christoph Bals, Political Director, Germanwatch
- Antonella Battaglini, Senior Scientist, PIK / Process Leader for SuperSmartGrid, European Climate Forum
- Wolfgang Neldner, Technical Managing Director, Vattenfall Europe Transmission
- Dr. Stephan Singer, Director of Global Energy Policy, WWF
- Han van Asten, Project Manager Wind Energy, TenneT

Chair: Guido Axmann, Initiator RGI / Managing Director of THEMA1.

More information on: http://www.renewables-grid.eu

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The Renewable Grid Initiative (RGI) promotes the expansion of distributed and bulk renewable energy generation and transmission capacity in Europe. To reach this target, the initiative brings together environmental NGOs and transmission system operators (TSOs). For the first time, WWF, Germanwatch, Vattenfall Europe Transmission and Tennet join forces for a common cause.

A large-scale integration of renewable energy sources is deemed necessary to reach the 2020 targets and to comply with the 2050 targets of cutting emissions by at least 80%. However, a considerable expansion of renewable electricity into the European grid can only be achieved by upgrading and expanding transmission capacity. New strategic interconnections will be required to transport renewable electricity from remote locations to consumption centres. The Renewable Grid Initiative demands a new mandate for energy regulators to enable the development of a European grid architecture capable of rapidly and efficiently transmitting renewable energies.

A grid upgrade is an essential precondition in large-scale renewable energy integration. At a time of serious economic distress and mounting pressure to address the widespread environmental, economic, and geopolitical consequences of our excessive reliance on fossil fuels, the case for sustainable investments in renewable energy generation and the transmission grid has never been stronger.

The Renewable Grid Initiative was launched by Antonella Battaglini, PIK Senior Scientist and ECF Process Leader for SuperSmart Grid and by the Berlin-based think tank THEMA1. The initiative is supported by the European Climate Foundation.