Europe Electricity Interconnection Data Tool Sources and methodology documentation

The document outlines the technical framework for the Europe Electricity Interconnection Data Tool, detailing how Ember maps Bidding Zones to countries and calculates key metrics like Net Transfer Capacity (NTC) and variable RES penetration. It specifies the use of ENTSO-E and TYNDP 2024 data to provide current (2024) and future (2030, 2040) snapshots of European grid characteristics, including 'Reference', 'Projects', and 'Needs' scenarios for grid expansion.

• To facilitate map visualization, the tool groups certain offshore wind Bidding Zones into three notional countries: "Baltic Hub" (BW), "Celtic Hub" (CW), and "North Hub" (NW).
• Interconnection capacity is measured as Net Transfer Capacity (NTC), which is typically derived by applying a Transmission Reliability Margin (TRM) to the Total Transfer Capacity (TTC) to account for planned outages.
• The tool's NTC convention is considered a conservative estimate of physical capacity because some regions, specifically the Core CCR (since June 2022) and the Nordics CCR (since October 2024), use Flow-Based Market Coupling (FBMC) which allows for higher exchange levels than bilateral NTC calculations.
• For the 2030 and 2040 'Needs' datasets, the tool distributes estimated total capacity gaps—88 GW for 2030 and 108 GW for 2040 on top of the Reference Grid—linearly among borders based on the midpoint of ranges provided in the TYNDP 2024 System Needs study.
• Import potential is calculated as the ratio of the sum of NTC from all importing interconnectors to the country-level peak demand, excluding storage load.
• Variable RES penetration is defined as the share of generation supplied by onshore wind, offshore wind, PV solar, and thermal solar (CSP), specifically excluding behind-the-meter contributions like rooftop PV.

APA

Geneletti, G., & Heberer, L. (2025). Europe Electricity Interconnection Data Tool Sources and methodology documentation. Ember. https://files.ember-energy.org/public-downloads/europe_interconnection_data_tool/Ember%20Europe%20Electricity%20Interconnection%20Data%20Tool%20-%20Methodology.pdf

Chicago

Geneletti, Gianluca, and Leo Heberer. Europe Electricity Interconnection Data Tool Sources and methodology documentation. Ember, 2025. https://files.ember-energy.org/public-downloads/europe_interconnection_data_tool/Ember%20Europe%20Electricity%20Interconnection%20Data%20Tool%20-%20Methodology.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Geneletti |first1=Gianluca |last2=Heberer |first2=Leo |title=Europe Electricity Interconnection Data Tool Sources and methodology documentation |publisher=Ember |date=3 July 2025 |url=https://files.ember-energy.org/public-downloads/europe_interconnection_data_tool/Ember%20Europe%20Electricity%20Interconnection%20Data%20Tool%20-%20Methodology.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{geneletti2025europe, author = {Geneletti, Gianluca and Heberer, Leo}, title = {{Europe Electricity Interconnection Data Tool Sources and methodology documentation}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = jul, url = {https://files.ember-energy.org/public-downloads/europe_interconnection_data_tool/Ember%20Europe%20Electricity%20Interconnection%20Data%20Tool%20-%20Methodology.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }