EU WILL BUILD SUPERGRID

European nations agree on offshore North Sea electric grid
3 December 2010 (BBC News)

"Ministers from 10 European countries bordering the North Sea have agreed the construction of a new offshore electricity grid…[that] will link countries across Europe and make it much easier for member states to trade energy.

"It will also simplify the exploitation of the 140 Gigawatt[s of] offshore wind farm[s] currently being planned in the North Sea…Analysts say Europe needs offshore wind farms to meet emissions [reduction] targets…The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the governments of the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden."

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"The new grid would be used to connect European grids to…offshore wind farm[s] currently in planning for the North Sea. The project is part of a concerted effort by the European Union to live up to its emissions targets and integrate the energy infrastructure…Norway and the Netherlands [already] use so-called ‘high-voltage direct-current’ links to pump energy back and forth between the two countries…

"…Another project currently under consideration is Desertec…[L]aunched by a German consortium, it is] aimed at putting a large number of solar energy modules into North Africa…[and connecting them] to European electricity grids…The North Sea grid is a highly ambitious project but could prove an important boost to countries whose location gives them an excess of solar or wind energy."