Supergrid Information
| Economics | Glossary | Renewables |
Why have an HVDC Grid? | News | Priorities | Diary |
Against Supergrid | Barriers | Who opposes HVDC? |
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Priorities - What needs to be Done?
HVDC in Europe - in whatever form - should be developed in a planned manner. Whether a full grid or a grid supporting weaker areas of transmission or supply the lay-out should be planned. Resources both in Europe and worldwide are not great and may well diminish in the future.
The preferred solution of this site is that HVDC links should be treated as a common good and be built by the state in a planned manner. This would facilitate the future construction of renewable plant in areas not presently viable (most obviously the middle and Near East - Desertec).
The Second option is private enterprise - regulated and/or encouraged by the State. Encouragement could come in the form of Feed In Tarrifs Carbon Credits or Grants.
The Third and least favoured option is piecemeal development. This is likely to run along lines where the best arbitrage exists. The obvious exemplar today is the NorNed link which makes in the region of Euros10m per month on a capital investment of Euros 350m. Piecemeal development runs the risk of wasting precious resources (not least time) in developing links that do not foster the most efficient renewable energy generation. It also runs the risk of having variable standards which may not allow efficient linking.
We have comented on the lack of resources on other pages. New faciltites can be built however it will take time - not least to get through any planning requirements. Any impeturs to build new faclities is dependent on Government making a firm commitment to the concept.