Making the EU Electricity Grid Fit for Net-Zero Emissions (b2venture)

Summary

• The EU electricity grid connects 266 million households and companies with over 11.3 million km of lines.p.4
• The Commission estimates that €1,994 billion to €2,294 billion is needed for grids between 2024 and 2050.p.20
• Planned operator investments reach €72 billion annually until 2030, dropping to €68 billion from 2031 to 2050, totalling €1,871 billion.p.19
• By 2030, 70% of renewables are expected to be connected at distribution level, rising to 80% by 2040.p.10
• Approximately 40% of distribution grids are more than 40 years old.p.12
• Congestion management needs rose 14.5% in 2023 compared with 2022, with system costs of €4.3 billion.p.23
• Preparation of grid investments takes roughly 4 years for transmission grids and about 2.5 years for distribution grids.p.23

Key insights

1. Around 42% of EU electricity came from renewables in 2022.p.7
2. The EU grid is managed by over 2,500 DSOs overseeing 96% of the grid and 30 TSOs.p.10
3. Peak daily electricity consumption is expected to rise 60% between 2020 and 2050.p.16
4. Italy's TSO proposed an €11 billion hypergrid to raise exchange capacity from 16 GW to over 30 GW.p.18
5. Germany's network expansion is 7 years and 6,000 km behind schedule.p.28
6. Areti found that flexibility measures could lower required investment from €1,075 million to €406 million, saving €669 million over 10 years.p.31
7. The EU target is for member states to reach 15% interconnection capacity by 2030.p.33
8. The number of staff at grid operators increased by 13% from 2014 to 2022.p.29