CATF Recommendations for the Upcoming Grid Package

The document argues that Europe's electricity grid is struggling to keep pace with the energy transition due to institutional bottlenecks, fragmented planning, and slow permitting. It recommends coordinating national and EU planning cycles on a two-year basis, extending planning horizons from 10 to 20 years, and establishing national 'one-stop shops' for permitting. Additionally, it advocates for the adoption of grid-enhancing technologies to increase network capacity by 20-40% and the creation of a centralized EU energy data platform to harmonize system planning.

• Current electricity grid planning in the EU is fragmented and siloed across sectors and governance levels, with misaligned cycles and methodologies that hinder investment and data comparability.
• To improve coordination, the EU should align national and EU planning cycles every two years and develop a publicly accessible centralized energy data platform to provide a common reference for system planning and climate scenarios.
• Existing planning horizons of 10 years are insufficient because they do not cover the full lifespan of infrastructure or decarbonization target dates; these should be extended to 20 years.
• Permitting is a major bottleneck, accounting for approximately 25% of the total time required for grid investments.
• The document recommends establishing national 'one-stop shops' for permitting and environmental reviews to increase efficiency and clarity for developers.
• The deployment of grid-enhancing technologies—such as dynamic line ratings and power flow controls—could increase overall network capacity by 20% to 40% and is more cost-effective than new greenfield infrastructure.
• For carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, the Commission should encourage the preparation of storage permit applications to occur simultaneously with exploration licence work programmes to reduce delays.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (2025). CATF Recommendations for the Upcoming Grid Package. https://www.catf.us/resource/catf-recommendations-for-the-upcoming-grid-package/

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. CATF Recommendations for the Upcoming Grid Package. 2025. https://www.catf.us/resource/catf-recommendations-for-the-upcoming-grid-package/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=CATF Recommendations for the Upcoming Grid Package |date=30 October 2025 |url=https://www.catf.us/resource/catf-recommendations-for-the-upcoming-grid-package/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforce2025catf, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{CATF Recommendations for the Upcoming Grid Package}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2025}, month = oct, url = {https://www.catf.us/resource/catf-recommendations-for-the-upcoming-grid-package/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }