Power in Unity

The policy brief highlights a gap between current European electricity interconnection expansion plans and the actual needs of the power system. It asserts that doubling interconnection capacity is essential to integrate renewables cost-effectively and reduce reliance on fossil gas. The author identifies critical border corridors requiring urgent attention and proposes three pathways forward: accelerating the 22 GW of projects already in the pipeline, investing in non-wire solutions like storage and demand response, or increasing domestic renewable capacities at a higher cost.

• Europe needs to double its current electricity interconnection capacity within the next ten to fifteen years to meet its climate neutrality and energy targets, as current expansion plans are insufficient and fail to meet even the outdated 2030 needs based on National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs).
• Infrastructure projects for interconnectors in Europe take an average of nine years to complete, meaning immediate action is required to prevent grids from becoming a bottleneck for wind and solar expansion.
• Several specific cross-border corridors are identified as critical but chronically unaddressed, including the triangle between Austria, Hungary and Slovenia; the line from Spain to France to Germany; links between the UK and France, and the UK and Ireland; and links between Western Balkan countries and their neighbours, such as Greece and North Macedonia.
• The most cost-effective immediate solution is to accelerate the 22 GW of interconnection projects already in the pipeline to bring them online by 2030.

APA

Cremona, E. (2023). Power in Unity. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2023/06/Policy-Brief-Breaking-Borders-Interconnection-In-Europe.pdf

Chicago

Cremona, Elisabeth. Power in Unity. Ember, 2023. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2023/06/Policy-Brief-Breaking-Borders-Interconnection-In-Europe.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cremona |first1=Elisabeth |title=Power in Unity |publisher=Ember |date=14 June 2023 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2023/06/Policy-Brief-Breaking-Borders-Interconnection-In-Europe.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cremona2023power, author = {Cremona, Elisabeth}, title = {{Power in Unity}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2023}, month = jun, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2023/06/Policy-Brief-Breaking-Borders-Interconnection-In-Europe.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }