The synchronous grid of Continental Europe (also known as Continental Synchronous Area; formerly known as the UCTE grid) is the largest synchronous electrical grid (by connected power) in the world. It is interconnected as a single phase-locked

mains frequency The utility frequency, (power) line frequency (American English) or mains frequency (British English) is the nominal frequency of the oscillations of alternating current (AC) in a wide area synchronous grid transmitted from a power station to th ...

electricity grid that supplies over customers in , including most of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

. In 2009, of production capacity was connected to the grid, providing approximately of

operating reserve In electricity networks, the operating reserve is the generating capacity available to the system operator within a short interval of time to meet demand in case a generator goes down or there is another disruption to the supply. Most power sys ...

margin. The

transmission system operator File:Electricity grid simple- North America.svg, 380px, Simplified diagram of AC electricity grid from generation stations to consumers rect 2 243 235 438 Power station rect 276 317 412 556 Transformer rect 412 121 781 400 Electric power transmis ...

s operating this grid formed the Union for the Coordination of Transmission of Electricity (UCTE), now part of the

European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity ENTSO-E, the European Network of Transmission System Operators, represents 39 electricity transmission system operators (TSOs) from 35 countries across Europe, thus extending beyond EU borders. ENTSO-E was established and given legal mandates by ...

(ENTSO-E).

Area

The synchronous grid of

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

covers territory of the ENTSO-E Continental Europe regional group and some neighboring countries not involved in the ENTSO-E. The synchronous grid includes part or all of Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark (western part), France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland as a members of the ENTSO-E Continental Europe regional group. In addition to the ENTSO-E members, the small west electricity island of Ukraine is synchronized with the grid of Continental Europe. Albania is operating the national grid synchronously with the synchronous grid of Continental Europe. The grids of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia are synchronised with the European grid through the Gibraltar AC link and form the SWMB. In April 2015, the grid of Turkey was synchronized with the European grid. Although synchronous, some countries operate in a near island mode, with low connectivity to other countries. The

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

considers high connectivity to be beneficial, and has listed several interconnection projects as Projects of Common Interest. However, the national grids must also be upgraded to handle increased power flows if the values of a free energy market are to be realised in the EU. On 16 March 2022, during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, the ENTSO-E set up synchronisation with the networks of Ukraine and Moldova on an emergency basis to provide external support for the power supply in those countries. Power exchange and integration gradually increased, and by August 2022, 400—700 MW were sent from Ukraine to Eastern parts of EU.

List of electricity interconnection levels

Electricity interconnection as percentage (EIL = electricity interconnection level) of installed electricity production capacity in 2014; the EU goal of at least 10% for 2020, and 15% for 2030.COM/2015/082 final: "Achieving the 10% electricity interconnection target
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Alternative formulas for calculating interconnection levels are based on peak load instead of installed capacity. Some border transmissions, particularly around the Alps, have both high utilization rate and high price difference, implying that further transmission would be beneficial.

Interconnections

The British grid is not synchronized with the Continental Europe frequency, but it is interconnected using

high-voltage direct current A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system (also called a power superhighway or an electrical superhighway) uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating curre ...

(HVDC) via the

HVDC Cross-Channel The HVDC Cross-Channel (french: Interconnexion France Angleterre IFA 2000) is the 73 km long high-voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnector that operates since 1986 under the English Channel between the continental European grid at Bonningues ...

BritNed BritNed is a 1,000MW high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) submarine power cable between the Isle of Grain in Kent, the United Kingdom; and Maasvlakte in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The BritNed interconnector would serve as a link for the foresee ...

Nemo Link Nemo Link is an HVDC submarine power cable between Richborough Energy Park in Kent, the United Kingdom and Zeebrugge, Belgium. The project is a joint venture between British National Grid and Belgian Elia. The electrical interconnector is the ...

IFA-2 IFA-2 (Interconnexion France-Angleterre 2) is a subsea electrical interconnector, running beneath the English Channel between France and the United Kingdom. The high voltage DC (HVDC) cable operates at +/-320kV with the capacity to transmit 1,00 ...

and Norway cable links. In 2014, before Nemo Link, IFA-2 and NSN became operational, the United Kingdom's electricity interconnection level was 6%. The networks of Ireland and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

form the ENTSO-E Irish regional group, which is not yet interconnected with the Continental Europe grid, but has DC interconnections with the British network through the HVDC

Moyle Interconnector The Moyle Interconnector is a 500megawatt HVDC link between Scotland and Northern Ireland, running between Auchencrosh in Ayrshire and Ballycronan More in County Antrim. It went into service in 2001 and is owned and operated by Mutual Energy. ...

and the

East–West Interconnector The East–West Interconnector is a 500MW high-voltage direct current submarine and subsoil power cable which connects the Irish and British electricity markets. The project was developed by the Irish national grid operator EirGrid. Aim The ...

. Similarly, the Nordic regional group of ENTSO-E (former NORDEL), composed of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the eastern part of Denmark (

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

with islands and

Bornholm Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...

), is not synchronized with the Continental Europe, but has a number of non-synchronous DC connections with the Continental Europe grid.

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...

is not synchronized with the Swedish mainland, as it is connected by

HVDC A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system (also called a power superhighway or an electrical superhighway) uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating curren ...

. The network of ENTSO-E Baltic regional group, composed of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, currently part of the

IPS/UPS The IPS/UPS is a wide area synchronous transmission grid of some CIS countries, with a common mode of operation and centralized supervisory control. It has an installed generation capacity of 300 gigawatts, and produces 1,200 terawatt-ho ...

system, is interconnected with the Nordic grid at an electricity interconnection level of 10% through the HVDC

Estlink Estlink is a set of HVDC submarine power cables between Estonia and Finland. Estlink 1 is the first interconnection between the Baltic and Nordic electricity markets followed by Estlink 2 in 2014. The main purpose of the Estlink connection is to ...

cables and

NordBalt NordBalt (also formerly known as SwedLit) is a submarine power cable between Klaipėda in Lithuania and Nybro in Sweden. The purpose of the cable is to facilitate the trading of power between the Baltic and Nordic electricity markets, and to in ...

cable, which is functioning since 2015. The Baltics are also connected with the Continental Europe grid through the Lithuania–Poland interconnection. The networks of Iceland and Cyprus are not yet interconnected with the other grids. Malta is connected up to 35% via the Malta-Sicily interconnector, commissioned in 2015.

Future extension plans

UCTE/ENTSO-E is planning the following extensions: # UCTE–Ukraine/Moldova, to disconnect only these networks from the IPS/UPS system and synchronously interconnect them to the synchronous grid of Central Europe # Tunisia–Libya synchronous connection, that would synchronise the Continental Europe with Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon (the latter five countries constitute the SEMB of the Mediterranean Electricity Ring project). HVDC planned projects: # The

EuroAsia Interconnector The EuroAsia Interconnector is a HVDC interconnector between the Greek, Cypriot, and Israeli power grids via the world's longest submarine power cable ( from Israel to Cyprus and from Cyprus to Greece, for a total of ). Connecting Kofinou, Cyp ...

between Greece, Cyprus, and Israel via the world's longest submarine power cable. Separately, there is another option concerning Ukraine and Moldova, and the ENTSO-E Baltic regional group: to disconnect only these networks from the

system and synchronously interconnect them to the synchronized grid of Central Europe. In early 2021 Ukraine announced that it will be disconnecting from Russia and Belarus by the end of 2023 and integrating into the European grid. On 16 March 2022, during the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, the connection to the European grid was done on an emergency basis. Further possibilities are extension to the Nordic regional group, the Turkey-Iraq interconnection, and the DESERTEC concept for interconnection with other countries in the Middle East. In the past the Armenia and Turkmenistan networks were part of the Soviet unified system, but currently they are connected to the Iran grid.

References

{{Reflist

External links

ENTSO-E website
Electric power transmission systems in Europe Electric power in the European Union