ENGINEERINGNET.EU -- At their inaugural conference "Supergrid 2012", the Friends of the Supergrid today signed a Joint Declaration with representatives of Medgrid, the Renewable Grid Initiative and the Desertec Industrial Initiative as well as representatives of the Climate Parliament, calling for action to deliver a European Supergrid.
The Friends of the Supergrid also released the conclusions of their Working Groups, showing that the technology to build and operate Supergrid is available today.
Opening the conference, Friends of the Supergrid President, Dr Eddie O'Connor stated: "There are now no technical barriers to the delivery of a European Supergrid. Europe's vast renewable energy reserves are a continental resource to be traded in a single electricity market.”
“An interconnected Europe will deliver affordable and secure sources of low carbon electricity to consumers who are today penalised by barriers to trade and exposure to volatile fossil fuel prices."
Delivering the keynote address, Belgian Minister for the North Sea Johan Van de Lanotte said "Over the last 30 years Europe has built a highways network. Our priority now must be to do the same for our electricity grids.”
“In Belgium we are building a ‘Super plug’ to connect a series of offshore wind parks and link Belgium with its neighbours. That is the first step to Supergrid."
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BACKGROUND
The concept of Supergrid was first launched a decade ago and it is defined as "a pan-European transmission network facilitating the integration of large-scale renewable energy and the balancing and transportation of electricity, with the aim of improving the European market".
The Friends of the Supergrid (FOSG) is a group of companies and organisations which have a mutual interest in promoting and influencing the policy and regulatory framework required to enable large-scale interconnection in Europe.
