EU member states reject centralized grid planning model. Wind sector protests

Representatives of the European wind industry have strongly criticized the outcome of Friday’s meeting of the EU Energy Council. They object to member state ministers having significantly “watered down” the European Commission’s proposed package of measures for European electricity grids. Member states have so far rejected some of the tools intended to centralize grid development planning at European level. The legislation will now move from the Council to the European Parliament, which must adopt its own position. The package’s final form will then be determined through negotiations between the two institutions.

At the heart of the dispute is the package of measures for European electricity grids, which the Commission presented last December. Its aim is to speed up the planning, permitting and construction of grids so that the Union can efficiently connect new energy sources and strengthen cross-border interconnections. The key measures are to be faster permitting procedures and a significant degree of centralized planning in the hands of the Commission.

However, instead of the so-called “central scenario”, member states propose a shared model under which national governments would retain greater control over planning the development of key corridors. According to the Council’s statement, the resulting grid development scenario should “fully take into account national energy and climate plans, regional specificities and differences in energy prices.”

Opposing the member states are representatives of the wind industry, grouped in the influential Brussels-based WindEurope association. They warn that such an approach will reinforce the very systemic problem that the planned package aims to solve: fragmentation in European grid development planning. Industry representatives say that more than 500 GW of wind projects are currently awaiting grid connection permits, an issue that needs to be addressed effectively. The association is therefore urging Members of the European Parliament to oppose the Council-weakened proposal and push for the original, more centralized model.

Faster permitting, more investment

The package is intended to unify fragmented national permitting procedures for grid infrastructure projects within a single digital system. Industry representatives also want to secure binding rules on automatic approval, as proposed by the Commission. If member state authorities fail to decide within a set deadline, certain permitting steps should be considered approved. Member states have so far rejected this proposal.

Denmark, the Netherlands and Poland agreed with the Commission, but France and Germany opposed it, arguing that Brussels would interfere too heavily with member state powers. The Council ultimately decided to propose automatic approval as voluntary.

Ministers also reflected the weakening of the proposal in the package’s financial component. The European Commission had proposed that 25 % of system operators’ revenues from congested interconnections (congestion revenue) be mandatorily allocated to cross-border grid projects of European significance. However, the Council softened the mechanism: from 2028, only 10 % of these funds would be earmarked for this purpose, with the share gradually rising to 25 % in 2031. If the money remains unused, it should return to national operators after eight years, and part of it may also be used for a broader range of projects.