The European Union will provide €578 million to build a major power link running through the Bay of Biscay to export Spain’s excess renewable energy to France, in a move that has been welcomed by France, Spain and Portugal.
Spain’s next 3GW renewable energy auction has been set for 26 July, having originally been pencilled in for 18 July, according to an announcement by energy minister Álvaro Nadal.
Using PV, wind and CSP, a ‘Supergrid’ interconnecting North Africa and Europe could take both regions close to 100% renewable energy by 2050, but would require political will and ambitious market design, an expert at Fraunhofer ISE has said.
State Grid Corporation of China, Korea’s main utility, one of Japan’s biggest renewables developers and Russia’s grid operator have formally indicated their interest in building a massive interconnected grid across Asia.
A key theme of the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue conference last week was how Germany’s Energiewende (‘energy transition’) has not only proven how to foster an explosion of renewable generation capacity through support schemes, but also how to integrate those renewables. Grid operators from Germany and Denmark discussed questions of feasibility, past, present and future.
The deregulated electricity market which Japan launches in April could be a long-term way for PV’s contribution to the country’s energy mix to exceed the industry and government target of 7% by 2030.
