Linking Renewables with a SuperSmart Grid in Europe and North Africa

The SuperSmart Grid team at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), together with scientists from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and industry experts, has collaborated with PricewaterhouseCoopers to investigate what will be required at a policy level to fully decarbonise the power sector in Europe and North Africa.

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.

The final report will be published in March 2010 and will be a practical guide for policy makers and the business community to feasibly achieve a 100% renewable electricity supply underpinned by a SuperSmart Grid.

Write an e-mail to info@supersmartgrid.net to order your FREE COPY now.

Key messages:
- A largely renewable power sector is technically and economically feasible. Achieving this is a political issue.
- Integrating the solar resources of North Africa with the wind resources of Europe is an efficient way to produce cheap and dispatchable renewable electricity for both regions.
- The majority of the changes required to achieve this by 2050 need to be initiated in the next decade. We need to increase the use of existing policy tools to aid the initial growth in renewable generation. These can be phased out overtime as renewables become the cheapest option.
- Proven policy mechanisms to overcome public and political resistance to new power transmission lines do not currently exist and will limit renewable generation. This is the most pressing issue to address when seeking to decarbonise the power system.

“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.

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 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.