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Medgrid pushes for Mediterranean grid
- 12 years ago (2011-10-28)
- David Flin
At a conference hosted by Israel’s branch of CIGRE, the International Council on Large Electric Systems, there were discussions on developing by 2020 a €5-6 billion electrical super-grid running from Spain, into northern Africa, to the eastern Mediterranean, and then back into Europe via Turkey.
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The Paris-based Medgrid has proposed the MEDRING project, which would establish an interconnected grid throughout the Mediterranean basin. Members of Medgrid currently include 20 EU and south-east Mediterranean companies, including Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Syria.
Jean Kowal, Executive Vice President of Medgrid, said: “The objective of Medgrid is to design the Mediterranean interconnection grid with a time target that is about 2020-2025.” He said that creating the MEDRING would complement EU objectives for 2020, which include a 20 percent reduction in CO2 compared to 1990 levels, a 20 percent improvement in energy efficiency, and ensuring that 20 percent of energy consumption comes from renewable sources. He added that the Mediterranean Solar Plan, which is pushing for the quicker development of renewable energy sources in the southern and eastern rims of the Mediterranean, is being developed alongside MEDRING. He said: “This solar plan cannot become a reality if you don’t have a transmission system to transmit the electricity.”
One problem facing the development of MEDRING is that the interconnections between the south-eastern Mediterranean countries are currently very weak, particularly in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. In addition, the southern countries have different regulations governing their electricity supplies, which currently make it “impossible to develop trading of electricity between southern countries and Europe,” according to Kowal.