PHOTOJune2024GridaccesschallengesforwindfarmsinEuropewindeurope.orgGridaccesschallengesforwindfarmsinEuropePublishedinJune2024Chaptername4WindEuropeIGridaccesschallengesforwindfarmsinEuropeDISCLAIMERThispublicationcontainsopinionscollatedfromdiscussionswithourmembersandnationalassociationpartners.NeitherWin-dEuropenoritsmembersorpartners,northeirrelatedentitiesare,bymeansofthispublication,renderingprofessionaladviceorservices.NeitherWindEuropenoritsmembersorpartnersshallberesponsibleforanylosswhatsoeversustainedbyanypersonwhoreliesonthispublication.TEXTANDANALYSIS:ChristinaPriftiVasilikiKlonariADDITIONALCONTRIBUTORS:ElenaBeianuVidushiDembiEDITOR:RoryO’SullivanDESIGN:LinVandeVeldePHOTOCOVER:ShutterstockACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:WindEuropeacknowledgesthekindcontributionofthefollowingassociations:AssociazioneNazionaleEnergiadelVento(ANEV)–Italy/AsociacionEmpresarialEolica(AEE)–Spain/BundesverbandWindEnergy(BWE)–Germany/ElettricitaFutura–Italy/FinnishWindPowerAssociation–Finland/FornybarNorge–Norway/HellenicWindEnergyAssociation(HWEA)–Greece/OIEHrvatska–Croatia/RenewableUK–UnitedKingdom/RomanianWindEnergyAssociation(RWEA)–Romania/SuomenTuulivoimayhdistys(STY)–Finland/SvenskVindkraft–Sweden/SwedishWindEnergyAssociation(SWEA)–Sweden/SyndicatdesEner-giesRenouvelables(ENR)–France/FrenchWindEnergyAssociation(FEE)–France/TurkishWindEnergyAssociation(TWEA)–Turkiye/Vlaamsewindenergieassociatie(VWEA)–Belgium/WindEnergyIreland(WEI)–Ireland.WindEuropeacknowledgesthekindcontributionofthefollowingcompanies:Equinor/HitachiEnergy/IberdrolaRenewables/IgnitisRenewables/SSERenewables.MOREINFORMATION:policy@windeurope.orgPHOTOExecutivesummary7Introduction91.Planninganddevelopmentfornewconnections111.1Overview111.2Theprocessforattaininggridconnectionpermits111.3Gridconnectiondelaysandcurrentbacklogs131.4Nationalstrategiestoimproveconnectionqueuemanagement171.5Recommendationstoimprovegridconnectionprocesses182.Gridcharges212.1Chargesforgridconnection212.2Chargesforgridexpansionandreinforcement223.Curtailmentofrenewableenergy253.1Curtailmentandcompensation253.2Flexiblegridconnectionagreements274.Hybridisation29Contents7GridaccesschallengesforwindfarmsinEuropeIWindEuropeExecutivesummaryAsthingsstand,securingaccesstotheelectricitygridisthenumberonebottlenecktodeployingrenewablesatscale.Gridaccessstartswithgridconnection.Currentlymorethan500GWoftotalwindcapacityinCroatia,France,Germany,Ireland,Italy,Norway,Poland,Romania,SpainandtheUKarewaitingforgridconnectionassessment.Thetotalstand-bycapacityfigureforEuropeismuchhigher.Thisisnotjustduetogridsaturationorlackofadequateplanningupto2050.Gridpermittingproceduresarealsoinefficient.Curtailmentisthesecondkeyfactorlimitinggridaccesstorenewablegeneration.Windfarmsmaybeconnectedtothegridbutcannotexportalargepartoftheirgenerationduetogridcongestion-aproblemwhichcanlastforseveralhours.AcrossEuropethereisverylittletransparencywhenitcomestoannuallycurtailedrenewableenergyvolumesandcongestioncosts.Veryfewnationalauthoritieshavepublishedthissortofimportantdatathatcouldjustifyproactivegridplanningoracceleratedgridinvestments.IfNationalGovernmentstaketargetedactiontoaccelerategridconnectivity-andguaranteeabalancedallocationofgridcapacitytoallstrategicnet-zerotechnologies,Europewillmakemajorprogresstowarditsclimategoals.Tobetterunderstandthedifferentgridp...