Security and efficiency: The case for connecting Europe and North America

This report by Ember explores the potential for an electricity interconnector between Europe and North America to enhance grid security and efficiency as both regions decarbonise. The analysis suggests that differences in time zones and weather patterns—specifically uncorrelated wind, temperature, and rainfall—could provide significant arbitrage opportunities and system resilience, potentially offering a more cost-effective solution than nuclear power or hydrogen.

• A six-hour time difference between Europe and North America creates daily complementarity for both solar energy production and electricity demand. This allows for arbitrage where Europe has excess electricity as the North American East Coast wakes up, and North America has excess electricity during Europe's evening peak.
• Analysis of 10 years of wind data shows an overall hourly correlation of near-zero between the two regions. Notably, there is evidence of a negative correlation during the windiest days, likely caused by low pressure systems moving from North America toward Europe, which would help smooth out supply volatility.
• Temperature data from the last 10 years indicates that heatwaves and cold snaps show zero correlation between Europe and North America. Only 4 of the top 20 coldest and hottest days each year overlapped on average, reducing the likelihood of concurrent extreme weather events impacting both grids simultaneously.
• The report identifies a lack of correlation in annual rainfall between Québec and Switzerland over 20 years. Because the difference between a 'wet year' and a 'dry year' can be around 20 TWh (approximately 2.3 GW hourly) in both Canada and the Alps, interconnection could balance hydro-dependent systems.
• Transatlantic interconnection could disrupt existing energy markets by giving Québec's 42GW hydro fleet access to the European market, where electricity prices are typically higher than in New England and neighbouring Canadian regions.
• While capital costs are high, the report suggests transatlantic interconnection could be cheaper than other policy alternatives such as hydrogen or nuclear power. To avoid single points of failure, the author recommends multiple cables with an optimal range of 2 GW each, spread across various landing points in Europe, the North Sea, and the East Coast of the US and Canada.

APA

Jones, D. (2024). Security and efficiency: The case for connecting Europe and North America. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/12/Analysis-Security-and-efficiency-The-case-for-connecting-Europe-and-North-America.pdf

Chicago

Jones, Dave. Security and efficiency: The case for connecting Europe and North America. Ember, 2024. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/12/Analysis-Security-and-efficiency-The-case-for-connecting-Europe-and-North-America.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Jones |first1=Dave |title=Security and efficiency: The case for connecting Europe and North America |publisher=Ember |date=12 December 2024 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/12/Analysis-Security-and-efficiency-The-case-for-connecting-Europe-and-North-America.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jones2024security, author = {Jones, Dave}, title = {{Security and efficiency: The case for connecting Europe and North America}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2024}, month = dec, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/12/Analysis-Security-and-efficiency-The-case-for-connecting-Europe-and-North-America.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }