EU must make "considerable" investments in its electricity networks, according to the European Court of Auditors

To modernize Europe's aging electricity grids, "considerable investments" must be made across the 27 countries of the European Union, estimated at a total of €1.871 billion by 2050, the European Court of Auditors estimated on Tuesday, April 1.

"Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has increased the need for alternatives to gas, including the electrification of the EU," the Court said in a statement released Tuesday, adding that modernization, "hindered by poor network planning, slow permitting processes and limited public support," must "move faster" in order to "strengthen the EU's energy independence and combat climate change."

A modernized electricity grid must be "capable of integrating more renewable energy and adapting to increasing electrification," the Court added, according to which electricity demand "will more than double in the EU by 2050."

France recently presented its own investment plan of 100 billion euros over 15 years (by 2040) to modernize and resize the network that connects production sites (nuclear power plants, wind and solar farms) to cities, countryside and factories.

In Europe, almost half of the distribution lines are over 40 years old on average, and some, built after the Second World War, are 80 years old.

"To ensure the EU's competitiveness and autonomy, we need modern infrastructure to support our industry and maintain affordable prices," said Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, a member of the Court, quoted in the press release.

But many industrialists complain that the price of electricity is too high in Europe compared to the United States in particular: the Court emphasizes that "optimizing the electricity network can help reduce investment needs."

Thus, according to her, the pressure on the European network can be alleviated by "more flexible adaptation" to daily, weekly, or seasonal fluctuations in energy consumption and production. She cites as examples "the development of new large-scale storage solutions" and "the development of interconnections between EU countries" that facilitate electricity exports.

"Tools such as smart meters can be effective in smoothing out peaks in demand, but their deployment remains slow in certain Member States," regrets the Court, which considers that electricity consumers who produce their own electricity (photovoltaic panels for example) "have an important role to play."