According to the latest report from the energy think tank Ember, a number of European countries have underestimated the installation of solar PV by 205GW by 2030. The report, titled "Putting the mission in transmission: Grids for Europe's energy transition," analyzed 35 national grid development plans from European Transmission System Operators (TSOs), including those from the EU, the UK, and the Western Balkans. It revealed that many countries are not aligning their plans with the actual progress of the energy transition.
Continued divergence between expected solar capacity and grid expansion plans could lead to increased grid congestion in the short term, causing delays in connecting solar projects.
Among the Transmission System Operators (TSOs) of 23 countries analyzed, only Croatia, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands have projected more ambitious scenarios for solar and wind capacity compared to their national targets. The difference varies from 50% higher for Denmark to 200% higher for Finland. Together, these four countries' grid plans exceed national policy targets by 81GW.
France stands out at the country level with the largest absolute variance between its TSO's solar capacity scenario (35GW) and national targets (54GW), with a gap of 19GW by 2030.
Source: PV Tech