Comments on the evaluation of Regulation 347/2013 on Trans-European Energy Infrastructure (“Ten-E”)

The engineering sectors represented by Orgalime are key technology providers for the generation, transmission, distribution and use of energy and energy-related products. At the same time, our companies are also significant users of energy. So as an industry, we are strongly committed to upgrading and modernising Europe’s energy infrastructure.

We therefore welcome the opportunity to comment on the European Commission’s evaluation of the Regulation on Trans-European Energy Infrastructure (the ‘TEN-E’ Regulation). In particular, we have identified two key areas for improvement.

Firstly, while we support the Commission’s view that infrastructure is the backbone of the European Energy Union, we stress that both transmission and distribution infrastructures will be essential to ensuring successful implementation of the Clean Energy Package and delivering on our Paris Agreement commitments. Achieving the EU’s 2020 and 2030 energy and climate targets will only be possible through full modernisation of the energy infrastructure – in particular of electricity networks at all voltage levels. We believe that as it stands, the TEN-E Regulation falls short in this regard: of the Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) in the second Union PCI list stemming from the Regulation, only three focus on smart grids.

The second area of improvement in the TEN-E Regulation, in our view, is the identification of more innovative PCIs. Sustainability and energy efficiency should be binding parameters in the selection of these projects – generating benefits in terms of energy savings, remissions reduction and energy security, while also strengthening industrial competitiveness and job creation in the EU. Technologies ‘made in Europe’ are ready to answer these challenges: now is the time to unlock this potential to the benefit of the European economy, our environment, and our society as a whole.