ECA Report: The European electricity grid, outdated and with operational problems

The European Court of Auditors published a report yesterday, which shows that the European Union suffers from a chronic disease: the continent's electricity grid cannot cope with current energy production and risks being blocked at any time. The cited document is basically a strong alarm signal that shows that the EU energy system is too outdated, too slow and too poorly coordinated to support the ecological transition that is being talked about obsessively in Brussels.

According to the information in the ECA report, the EU's electricity transmission and distribution networks need huge investments - between 1,994 and 2,294 billion euros by 2050. However, network operators are planning investments of only 1,871 billion euros, but even so, their pace of implementation is so slow that infrastructure projects take longer than those from renewable sources, say the auditors of the European Court of Auditors. That is, we have solar farms and wind farms that produce electricity, but we have nowhere to send it.

The result? Colossal losses of green energy and a system stuck in its own bureaucratic paradox. Especially since we do not have the necessary capacities to store that electricity. However, the ECA report notes that by 2040, the total energy storage capacity in the EU is expected to increase fourfold compared to 2020. Pumped hydropower was the main energy storage reservoir in the EU in 2020. Battery energy storage has grown exponentially since 2020. This trend is expected to continue, with costs falling by 40% by 2030. Using electricity to produce and store hydrogen is also a potential solution, but according to the European Court of Auditors' special report on hydrogen, it comes with disadvantages such as high energy losses and high production costs. In addition, this solution requires the repurposing of certain infrastructure or the construction of new ones.

• 12 TWh produced but not delivered to the grid due to undersizing

As for losses, the European Court of Auditors' report notes that in 2023, over 12 TWh (Terrawatt-hours) of renewable energy were not used. This is equivalent to 11% of all green energy generated in the EU in 2022. The ECA auditors show that, due to congestion, these TWh were literally lost, while European citizens paid for the incompetence of the system out of their own pockets.

The report drawn up by the European Court of Auditors is a cold and sharp diagnosis: 40% of the electricity distribution networks in the European Union are older than 40 years. According to the ECA report, the average lifespan of power lines varies between 40 and 60 years, depending on their type - underground cables or overhead lines. In a continent that aspires to "net zero emissions", we are still basically relying on cables and infrastructure from the last century.

Some data from the report on our country are eloquent. Although Romania had, according to data collected by ECA in 2023, 8 electricity distribution operators, and 506,716 kilometers of distribution networks, the 110 kilovolt lines are 47 years old, the medium voltage lines - 43 years, the low voltage lines - 38 years, the 110 kilovolt power stations - 44 years and the medium voltage power stations - 34 years.

Regarding electricity transport, our country has a single operator - Transelectrica, which manages 9,115 kilometers of transmission networks, but the infrastructure is very old. The ECA notes that in 2023, 110 kV overhead lines were 36 years old, 220 kV overhead lines - 52 years old and 400 kV overhead lines - 44 years old. Only transformers are younger, at 20 years old.

Then, to function effectively, demand-side response measures require smart metering systems and smart devices that enable remote and real-time monitoring, communication, data interoperability and control of electricity use.

• Lack of smart meters - a problem for half of EU countries

By 2023, only 14 Member States had successfully installed smart meters for 80% or more of their household customers, meeting the EU target set for Member States. However, in at least 7 Member States, less than 20% of household customers had smart meters. According to data taken by the European Court of Auditors from the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), Romania ranked 20th out of 27 EU Member States in terms of smart metering at the end of 2023, with only 23% of smart meters installed, compared to the European average of 59.51%.

The consequences of this lack of investment in transmission and distribution networks are real and visible, being reflected in higher bills for consumers, who pay for the inefficiency of an unadapted network, in delayed connections of green sources and in imminent blackouts (in the context where demand increases and the network gives way under pressure).

The ECA auditors also show that, while electricity demand is expected to double by 2050, planned investments are not keeping pace. The EU is moving slowly, choked by bureaucracy, poor planning and authorisation procedures that seem designed to block rather than accelerate progress. Network operators are failing to attract sufficient funds, are struggling with a lack of skilled labour and lack vision. There is an absurd dissonance between the ambitious objectives of European policies and the reality of networks that are barely holding up.

• Storage made easier for prosumers and energy communities

The ECA report also has a chapter dedicated to prosumers. According to it, flexibility and storage solutions are easier to implement with public participation and when consumers are aware of the benefits that could result.

"Prosumers (consumers who produce electricity) and energy communities (collectively produce and consume electricity) can play an important role. Both generate renewable energy locally, provide storage and flexibility, raise awareness and invest private funds in the energy transition. As their storage and production resources can be pooled through aggregators, prosumers and energy communities have the opportunity to participate collectively in electricity and flexibility markets. However, prosumers and energy communities face several challenges when providing this flexibility and can also put pressure on the grid. For example, during peak production periods, such as sunny afternoons, their electricity production can overload the grid," say the European Court of Auditors auditors.

What the ECA experts are saying is a beautiful but risky vision: is this not a strategy to transfer responsibility from authorities to citizens, disguised as "empowerment"? What chances does an energy community in a poor village have to organize its own production and consumption, while the large networks stagnate?

The European Court of Auditors' document is, in essence, a wake-up call. Europe risks turning the energy transition into a permanent construction site with no end in sight. Green policies are being sabotaged by a rusty infrastructure, a blocked bureaucracy and a blatant lack of coordination. If the EU really wants an electricity network "up to the challenge", then it must get out of the logic of sterile reporting and move on to firm actions. Otherwise, we will be heading towards a future with bright objectives and networks that give in at the first storm.