Europacable and T&D Europe Joint Policy Event: More and Smarter Grids to Connect Europe

Europacable and T&D Europe held their first joint policy event “Better Grids for Clean Energy” on 22 November in Brussels.

Set against the background of the Clean Energy Package and the recently published report of the Expert Group on Electricity Interconnection Targets, the policy event gathered some 80 senior experts from Brussels and across the European Union.

Following the opening key note speech by European Commission Director for Energy Policy, Mrs Megan Richards, the conference opened to two panel debates. The first panel discussed the issue of reaching the objective of a truly interconnected energy system in Europe. In an early presentation before an official public launch in Florence this week, Tomasz Jerzyniak from DG Energy highlighted the conclusions the recent report of the Expert Group on interconnection targets. The report’s pragmatic new approach on targets is a valuable step to start planning the needed infrastructure and underlines the importance of public acceptance in large-scale projects. The second session one was dedicated to the grid technology industry’s initiative for developing a smartness indicator for the electricity grid, with reaction by network operators, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the academic sector.

Raul Gil, Chairman of the Europacable Energy Team, welcomed this joint industry initiative: “Europe needs more and smarter grids to fully leverage on the opportunities stemming from the Energy transition we´re currently witnessing. Submarine and underground cables will be the core backbone of our future gird architecture.” He stressed: “Together with our friends from T&D Europe, our industry is ready to deliver high-quality, cutting edge technology solutions to truly interconnect Europe. We are fully committed in working with all partners to making Europe´s integrated energy market a genuine success.”

Gerhard Seyrling, President of T&D Europe, praised the cooperation between both associations in the development of a Grid Smartness indicator: “During the conference we heard from the European Commission that our initiative complements and furthers earlier work achieved by the Smart Grids Task force expert group. Also, the strong link with smartness indicator for buildings proposed in the Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings was highlighted. We are proud to see that our joint initiative is raising the interest of both EU policy-makers other stakeholders of the electricity networks. We look forward to continuing developing this idea with all interested parties in 2018.” The grid smartness indicator aims at reflecting the capability of the grid to enable the entire power system to ensure cost-effectiveness while supporting the energy transition, security of supply and the participation of all users.

The joint Europacable and T&D Europe policy event served as a unique forum contributing to develop the most suitable legislative and regulatory framework to build Europe´s best grid using all available technologies made in Europe. Both associations are looking forward to planning a new joint conference in 2018.

About Europacable and T&D Europe
Europacable and T&D Europe represent the leading electricity grid technology providers in Europe: We produce the complete range of products and services necessary to transmit and distribute electricity- from the generator to the end user. Jointly, our industry employs almost 300,000 people in Europe and generates a turnover of more than 40 billion €. Innovation is in our DNA: Our members provide all types of smart grid technologies, including advanced, digital systems suitable for interaction with renewable energies and ICT as well as underground and submarine cables which will serve as the backbone of Europe´s future electricity transmission and distribution grids.