Green 'supergrid' could plug Europe into renewable power by 2030, say scientists

By David Strahan
Sunday, 14 June 2009

Europe could build an electricity supply based entirely on renewable energy by 2030, according to scientists making a presentation at the House of Commons this week.
MPs will hear that an electricity "supergrid" across Europe and North Africa could solve the problem of the intermittency of wind turbines and solar power and dispense with the need for nuclear and "clean coal" power stations altogether.
The supergrid would stretch from Britain to Kazakhstan, and Scandinavia to Morocco, and transport huge amounts of renewable power back and forth to marry supply with demand.
MPs will hear from Dr Gregor Czisch, a German energy consultant who has devised a computer model which is based on historical weather and demand data. It is designed to find the cheapest electricity supply based wholly on renewables.
The supergrid would require tens of thousands of kilometres of overhead lines and undersea cables, and the entire system would cost more than €€1.5trn (£1.3trn) over 20 years.