The expert group on electricity interconnection targets, set up by the Commission in March of this year, will hold its first meeting on 17 and 18 October.
The role of this group of experts, selected from industry organisations, universities, research bodies, NGOs, international organisations and individuals who have thorough knowledge of the European energy market, is to provide the Commission with advice on achieving the 10% cross-border interconnection target by 2020, in particular on project finance and permit granting procedures.
Its role is also to advise the Commission on how to break down the 15% electricity interconnection target by 2030 into regional, country and/or border interconnection targets.
In fulfilling its tasks, the group will take into account the key energy and climate elements that are shaping the energy systems in Europe, analyse the impact of these elements on electricity infrastructure needs, elaborate on the interconnection objective and analyse the socio-economic impact of existing and recently completed projects, the Commission says.
The group will, in addition, make proposals on how to define and determine optimal interconnection capacity taking into account the energy trends, costs and trade flows and will make recommendations on how to close the cross-border electricity infrastructure gaps by 2030. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)