Transmission infrastructure investment requirements in the future European low-carbon electricity system

This paper presents case studies projecting European cross-border electricity transmission infrastructure requirements for a range of future European electricity system scenarios. In calculating the requirements and to attain to the least cost solution, we use a Dynamic System Investment Model. The optimization model minimizes the total investment and operating costs taking into account: (i) the coordination needed between generation and transmission investment; (ii) the need to maintain reliability and feasibility of system operation; and (iii) the applications of load control technology. The model has been used to quantify the transmission requirements for five different European future generation and demand scenarios developed in the “Infrastructure Roadmap for Energy Networks in Europe”, IRENE-40, FP7 project. These include Business-as-Usual, Renewable, DESERTEC, CCS, and the High Efficiency pathways. This paper also presents a discussion on the plausible network technologies to fulfill the requirements and the potential benefits of demand side management in reducing the capacity requirements.