22.01.10 Could Northern Europe be connected by an electricity ‘supergrid’?

In the near future, citizens in the UK could share electricity from renewable sources with other Northern European countries via a ‘supergrid’, which ministers hope could reduce carbon emissions and fossil fuel dependency.

On December 7th, 2009, nine countries including the UK signed a political declaration on the North Seas Countries Offshore Grid Initiative. The agreement, also approved by ministers from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden came as part of an Energy Council meeting in Brussels.

The aim of the Initiative is to link up the countries’ electricity supply through a ‘supergrid’ spanning the North and Irish seas. It is hoped that sharing energy supply in this way will help overcome some of the challenges of increasing Europe’s dependence on renewable energy supply. The declaration also cites increased security of supply and the competitiveness of Europe’s energy market as potential benefits.

According to the government, the UK is already the world leader in offshore wind capacity and has the potential to supply more than a quarter of its electricity needs from offshore wind farms. Lord Hunt, the Energy and Climate Change Minister, has stated that offshore wind could provide the UK with up to 70,000 new jobs and £8 billion in annual revenues. Much of any foreseen development will come in the North Sea.

But one of the primary barriers to further increases in low-carbon energy from wind has been what to do when the wind is not blowing, since energy is difficult and costly to store. Through a ‘supergrid’, countries with a surplus of electricity could instantly supply those with a shortfall. This would increase reliability and efficiency.

But how likely is it that the ambitious plans for a ‘supergrid’ will come to fruition?

News of the initiative came as talks for a global deal on cutting carbon emissions were beginning in Copenhagen. The resulting Copenhagen Agreement does not legally bind countries to emissions reductions or an increase in energy supply from renewables.

However, the primary driver of the Initiative is the EU’s own so-called 20-20-20 target, an ambition to supply 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. The declaration states that wind energy is likely to be ‘crucial’ in meeting those targets, and the ‘supergrid’ potentially key to large-scale wind energy use.

The declaration does not include a timeline for construction. Rather, it commits the signatories ‘To convene a High Level meeting of the relevant stakeholders of the Region during the second half of 2010 in order to agree on a strategic working plan by means of a Memorandum of Understanding of the North Seas Offshore Grid Initiative’.

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