According to WindEurope, securing access to the electricity grid is the number one bottleneck to deploying renewables at scale in Europe.
WindEurope’s report added that grid access begins with connecting to the grid. Currently, over 500 GW of wind capacity across Croatia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, and the UK is awaiting grid connection assessment.
The total standby capacity for Europe is significantly higher. This issue stems from grid saturation or insufficient planning up to 2050 and inefficient grid permitting procedures.
If national governments take targeted action to accelerate grid connectivity and ensure a balanced allocation of grid capacity for all strategic Net-Zero technologies, Europe will make significant progress towards achieving its climate goals.
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Additionally, the report lays an outline of areas that need to be targeted-
- Efficient anticipatory planning of transmission and distribution grids—This should account for new electrified demand and renewable capacity more than 10 years in advance.
- Moving away from the first come, first served principle for granting grid access to new generation and demand.
- Accelerated implementation of EU legislation, such as the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) and the EU Emergency Permitting Regulation.
- Transparent harmonised rules and practices for congestion management, curtailment compensation and flexible (non-firm) grid connection agreements.
- A fair sharing of grid expansion and reinforcement costs between generation asset developers and system operators.
- Enabling grid connection rules for co-located renewables with and without storage (hybridisation) and fit-for-purpose revenue stabilisation schemes.
The report is based on a survey launched by WindEurope in 2023.