Meeting 100% of Europe.s electricity needs through renewable energy by 2050 is possible - if we succeed in pooling the potential of Europe's renewable energy sources. This will require cooperation between the EU member states, as well as coherent policies and regulation at the European level. Both currently exist only in fragments, as energy policy in Europe is still shaped mainly at the national level. The Heinrich Boell Foundation therefore asked a number of experts to take stock of European policy in the sectors most important for the transition to renewable energy, to identify the areas in which European cooperation has been inadequate to date, and to propose possible solutions.
The construction of a European grid is a prerequisite for the joint exploitation of renewable energy sources in Europe. But although the necessity to construct such a grid is now widely accepted, the construction of this grid and especially of the interconnectors between the different European countries is progressing slowly. In this paper, Antonella Battaglini and Johan Lilliestam explore what could be done - especially on the European level - to speed up the construction of a European grid