A SuperGrid in Europe's future?

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Quick Take: A German government agency is studying new technologies for grid optimization, including the potential for a pan-European SuperGrid. The study is urgently needed, since Germany has decided to abandon nuclear and depend instead on renewable energy, which can place great stress on the grid. The study has a wide purview, including standards, interoperability, regulations, cybersecurity, transmission additions and more.

From where we sit, this effort is long overdue. Germany has been putting renewables online for many years, without regard for the problems they can create for the grid. We predict the results will argue strongly for grid modernization. Provided Europe can get past its current recession, it could become the next smart grid epicenter. - By Jesse Berst

The grid optimization study is being conducted by TÃœV SÃœD AG for the Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag and is intended to find medium-term approaches and options for the transformation and operation of future electric grids, according to an article in Today's Energy Solutions.

"Security and reliability of the electricity supply are critical and must be maintained or even improved throughout the transformation of our present electricity grids into the power grids of the future," said study project manager Dr. Royth v. Hahn, adding that the move to smart grids cannot be allowed to jeopardize supply security.

He also commented that electric grids will undergo "massive changes" in the decades to come and that influencing factors will include liberalization and integration of the European electricity market and the growth of renewables and the integration of decentralized and volatile energy sources into the grid.

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