What should the electricity grid look like in 2040 to create maximum value for Europeans, ensure continuous access to electricity throughout Europe and deliver on the climate agenda? Furthermore, what would be the cost of not having the right grid by 2040?

ENTSO-E provides answers to these questions by releasing six Regional Investment Plans and Europe Power System 2040: completing the map, which presents for the first time a pan-European analysis of the future system investment needs. Overall, the benefits for Europeans of a fit for purpose network with the right investments in the right places – in terms of electricity prices, continued access to electricity and completion of climate objectives - far outweigh the necessary efforts which will need to be mobilised in the next decades for its construction.

The released reports aim at offering the most reliable assessment of pan-European and regional network needs and of where grid projects should be considered. They also look at potential policy requirements and/or adjustments and future technical challenges to be addressed. They represent the second of three stages of the Ten-Year Network Development Plan 2018, after the release of the ENTSOs’ scenarios in 2017. The final TYNDP2018, including a cost benefit analysis of about 200 transmission and storage projects will be released later this year.