EU energy ministers call for action on grids

EU energy ministers have called on the European Commission to implement without delay relevant actions of the grids action plan.

In the conclusions of the EU Energy Council meeting of May 30, the ministers approved a series of measures for an “interconnected, integrated and synchronised European electricity network” with the aim to ensure energy security, EU competitiveness and socio-economic development and the region’s energy and climate goals.

Highlighting the importance of long term coordinated planning of the grid infrastructure, they called on the Commission to develop an implementation agenda to support member states to address the main barriers to its efficient deployment and use and to strengthen the regulatory and grid development oversight frameworks in line with the decarbonisation objectives.

Member states were called on to encourage TSOs and DSOs to develop new grid projects including smart grids wherever they are needed and to ensure nature-inclusive design to reconcile such developments with environmental and biodiversity protection, while the TSOs and DSOs were called on to address network congestion both at national and regional levels.

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Turning to energy security and resilience, the Commission was called on to improve both the physical and cybersecurity of the electricity infrastructure, including conducting a targeted review of the EU’s security of electricity supply architecture over the longer term focusing on risk preparedness.

When developing energy infrastructure, including smart metering systems and data communication infrastructure, the Commission should support member states in applying the security-by-design principle.

Acknowledging the need for unprecedented levels of investments in the electricity networks, the ministers called on the Commission to develop further guidance for member states, TSOs and DSOs in making the best use of the existing EU funds.

They also invited information about the actual investment needs in relation to electricity grids compared to the funds earmarked for them and for the Commission to look for ways to increase the overall investments for this grid infrastructure.

Further, highlighting the need to scale and speed up the development of the electricity infrastructure, the Commission was invited to explore possibilities to facilitate regional or EU-wide visibility on procurement of grid components and to provide recommendations on the role that harmonised functional tender specifications and standards can play in accelerating and facilitating procurement procedures.

ENTSO-E and the DSO Entity also were called on to enhance collaboration with technology providers to develop common technology specifications by the end of 2024 and to assess the added value of functional tender designs and to issue non-binding guidelines to members.

Finally, there also was a call on the Commission to identify measures to accelerate the permitting procedures for electricity grid infrastructure, paying attention to the coherence of the framework for energy, nature and environment.