A shortage of transformers is putting Europe's grid build-out at risk, stretching project lead times and adding to a price surge that will be felt on consumers' bills, researchers and experts have warned.
The EU is looking to fast-track massive investments into its energy infrastructure, shifting risk from companies to consumers and risking a landscape with derelict, half-finished pylons.
The EU is faced with a grid investment gap of €800 billion until 2030, finds a report commissioned by industry lobby-group ERT, who call for another power market revamp to help address the issue.
Ukraine, Moldova and Slovakia on Friday (19 January) joined an initiative for a planned corridor to carry natural gas between Greece and countries to its north as Europe steps up efforts to diversify supply and boost energy security.
Germany could soon become the first European country to put in place a policy framework for supporting investments in hydrogen infrastructure, in anticipation of EU regulations that are currently still in the making.
Germany’s federal and state governments have agreed on a package to speed up the roll-out of new infrastructure projects such as railways and power grids, in part by automatically approving applications if there is no timely response by responsible authorities.
As the European Union finalises its hydrogen and gas rulebook, key issues remain on how to remunerate network operators for building and maintaining Europe’s future hydrogen grid.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) ought to ‘support the EU’s key public policies,’ and so must finance nuclear energy, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton told journalists on Wednesday, effectively siding with the French approach.
The high-profile political spat over the end of fossil fuel boilers in Germany may end up benefitting demand for connections to city-wide heating grids similar to those currently deployed in Berlin, with plans to connect 100,000 buildings every year.
As Europe shuts down its remaining coal power plants and turns away from volatile gas for electricity generation, it is also losing key flexible power supplies that can be switched on at the last minute to keep the lights on during peak hours.
Irish and French energy regulators confirmed that the Celtic Interconnector will be completed by 2027, despite a substantial re-evaluation of the project's costs. The French grid operator also confirmed the partial launch of the Savoy-Piedmont electricity interconnection.
The European Parliament voted on a resolution to tackle energy prices on Wednesday (5 October), which includes the relaunch of the MidCat pipeline linking Spain with France, despite opposition from French MEPs.
Spain and Germany's leaders vowed on Wednesday (5 October) to strengthen their alliance and doubled down on their plan to build a new Pyrenean gas pipeline despite opposition from mutual neighbour France.
France is on its way to approving a project to export 100 Gigawatt hours per day of gas to Germany from 10 October as the Energy Regulatory Commission launched the project's public consultation phase on Thursday (15 September) - the last but one step before the launch.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's call for greater EU "energy solidarity" during her State of the Union address could be difficult to achieve, as the Franco-Spanish MidCat gas pipeline project – on hold due to France's continued opposition – already shows.
French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed he would not relaunch the MidCat gas interconnection project between France and Spain, but he hinted he could be open to persuasion.
Spain, Portugal and Germany have revived talks on the MidCat gas pipeline project linking the Iberian Peninsula with France, but Paris remains reluctant, calling the future of the project into question.
The head of the regional government of Catalonia is confident a pipeline to ship gas and potentially green hydrogen from the northeastern Spanish region to France will be built this decade as Europe seeks to cut its energy reliance on Russia.
The European Union will struggle to cut dependence on Russian gas, but must do so to avoid possible supply shortfalls next winter, a Portuguese minister said on Wednesday (16 March), adding Portugal's liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports could help.
Spain's energy Minister, Teresa Ribera, assured that "it is very difficult to make progress" with France on the construction of a gas pipeline that will allow Spain to export its stored gas to the rest of Europe.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called on the European Union to finance gas interconnections with the rest of Europe, saying new infrastructure should also include green gases such as hydrogen. EURACTIV's partner El Diario reports.
Bulgaria supports sanctions on Russia as a means to halting its invasion of Ukraine, but will likely seek an exception on banning Russian natural gas and oil imports if such a proposal is put forward, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said.
Bulgaria continues to be depleted of revenue because of persistent delays in completing the gas interconnector with Greece, energy minister Alexander Nikolov said in parliament on Thursday (6 January).
In a rare move, the Maltese government sent letters to Members of the European Parliament one week before a crucial EU negotiation in an attempt to persuade them to support a controversial gas pipeline connecting the Mediterranean island to Italy's gas network.
