Efficient strategies for the integration of renewable energy into future energy infrastructures in Europe – An analysis based on transnational modeling and case studies for nine European regions

As a result of the current international climate change strategy, the European Commission has agreed on ambitious targets to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 80% until 2050 as compared to 1990 levels and to increase the share of renewable energy and improve energy efficiency by 20% until 2020. Under this framework, renewable energy generation has increased considerably in the EU and it is expected to keep growing in the future years. This paper presents long-term strategies for transmission infrastructure development to integrate increasing amounts of renewable generation in the time horizon of 2030–2050. These are part of the outcomes of the SUSPLAN project,11SUSPLAN (PLANning for SUStainability) is a project initiated in 2008, and finished in 2011, under the European Union's 7th Framework Program and sponsored by the Directorate General Transport and Energy (DG-TREN). The sole responsibility for the content of this paper lies with the authors. It does not represent the opinion of the European Commission. The EC is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. which focuses on four possible future renewable deployment scenarios in different European regions taking into account the corresponding infrastructure needs, especially electricity and gas grids, both on regional and transnational level. The main objective of the project is the development of guidelines for the integration of renewable energy into future energy infrastructures while taking account of national and regional characteristics. Therefore, the analysis is based on a two-track approach: A transnational modeling exercise (“top-down”) and in-depth case studies for nine representative European regions (“bottom-up”). •We present the main outcomes of the SUSPLAN EU project.•It assesses long-term energy infrastructure needs to integrate RES in Europe.•Regional and transnational analyses are performed for 4 RES scenarios until 2050.•Major barriers to the integration of RES into energy infrastructure are identified.•Efficient strategies to mitigate these barriers are proposed.