To achieve its climate and energy goals, Europe needs to improve cross-border electricity interconnections. Connecting Europe's electricity systems will allow the EU to boost its security of electricity supply and to integrate more renewables into energy markets.
EU electricity interconnection target
The EU has set an interconnection target of at least 15% by 2030 to encourage EU countries to interconnect their installed electricity production capacity. This means that each country should have electricity infrastructure in place that would allow it to import, from its neighbouring EU countries, an equivalent of at least 15% of the electricity production capacity on its territory.
The previous interconnection target of 10% by 2020 was raised to 15% by 2030 following the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union (2018/1999).
By the beginning of 2025, 14 countries had exceeded the 2030 target and 5 countries were above the 10% threshold, while 8 countries were still below the previous target from 2020. If finished on time, the interconnection projects in the pipeline are expected to further improve interconnectivity levels, but more interconnections are needed in some regions, particularly in view of increasing renewable generation capacities.
The 15% interconnection target for 2030 has been complemented by 3 suplementary indicators to give a more complete picture of the issues linked to interconnectivity. These indicators highlight the urgency of action based on price differential in the wholesale market and the ratio of nominal transmission capacity of interconnectors in relation to peak load and to installed renewable generation capacity. The level of interconnectivity does not mean automatically that new infrastructure projects are needed, and in line with the Regulation, each new interconnector is subject to a socioeconomic and environmental cost-benefit analysis and implemented only if the potential benefits outweigh the costs.
Expert group on electricity interconnection
To help achieve the interconnectivity targets, the Commission set up an expert group on electricity interconnection in 2016. The group is made up of 15 leading experts from industry organisations, academia and NGOs, as well as the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and the European Networks of Transmission System Operators for Electricity and for Gas (ENTSO-E and ENTSOG).
The group has provided technical advice and presented reports, including on the interconnection capacity in the EU and public acceptance of the implementation. Following the group’s recommendations, the Commission proposed the 2030 target, as outlined in the Communication on strengthening Europe's energy networks COM (2017) 718 final. There is no upcoming activity of the group.
Related links
- News: Commission welcomes Energy Community’s agreement on 2030 energy and climate targets (15/12/2022)
- Report: Electricity interconnections with neighbouring countries
- Connecting power markets to deliver security of supply, market integration and the large-scale uptake of renewables (News 25/02/2015)
- Commission expert group on electricity interconnection targets meetings