On Tuesday 13 May, the European Commission launched a call for evidence and a public consultation with a view to the publication, at the end of 2025, of its European legislative package for networks, announced in the Clean Industrial Deal (see EUROPE 13588/1). Interested parties have until 8 July to submit their contributions.
This package aims to address the significant gap between network expansion needs and current network development projects, both in terms of the transmission network and the distribution network.
In the case of electricity, for example, “half of cross-border electricity needs (32 of 66 GW) are currently not addressed for 2030, and this gap is expected to increase to 37 GW by 2040”, the call for evidence points out.
Following on from the ‘Grid Action Plan’ (see EUROPE 13302/8), the package will include legislative proposals to speed up the granting of permits for grids, storage and renewables, in particular by “streamlining environmental assessments” and reducing “the time needed to grant permits”.
“Without investment in the expansion, modernisation, digitalisation and flexibility of the network, connection delays will increase and renewable energies and electrification will stagnate”, the Commission points out in a press release.
It highlights that €584 billion of investment in networks will be needed before the end of the decade to achieve the objectives of the ‘REPowerEU’ strategy.
It also notes that this package will focus on electricity, but will also cover hydrogen infrastructure and CO2 infrastructure (capture, transport and storage).
To see the call for evidence, go to https://aeur.eu/f/gtm
To see the public consultation, go to https://aeur.eu/f/gtl (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)