Green Industrial Grids Association to accelerate Europe’s grid modernisation

The role of GIGA, which joins the several industry associations and other alliances in the sector, is to advocate for a fundamental grid transformation in Europe.

It fills a gap by bringing together companies with shared electricity needs to provide practical, user-driven insights on grid access, planning and system modernisation – perspectives currently missing from Europe’s energy discussions, according to the launch statement.

Specifically, it is focussed on four conditions – grid planning with stronger coordination with consumers to ensure build-out happens where it is most needed; mobilising third-party financing to accelerate investment and optimisation; deploying technological solutions such as grid enhancing technologies to maximise the existing grid; and moving from a first-come-first-served approach to a first-ready-first-out model to allocate capacity to accelerate access to power.

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“Europe’s energy transition will only succeed if our grids evolve with the same speed and scale as industrial electrification and digital innovation,” says Matt Ersin, Senior Director Government and Public Affairs at EV charging network Fastned, who is chair of GIGA.

“Through GIGA, industry is providing a shared vision for a competitive and decarbonised Europe, and a commitment to supporting the policies and investments that make it possible.”

Pamela MacDougall, Head of Energy Markets and Regulation at AWS, who has been named vice-chair, adds: “Modern grids are the foundation of Europe’s clean and competitive economy. I am proud to help guide this association as we bring forward practical expertise and technical insight to support Europe in planning, building and operating the electricity system it needs for the future.”

Policy support

To support the electrification agenda, GIGA intends to provide technical expertise and practical insight based on the experience of its members with regulatory frameworks and grid planning processes worldwide so that the policy decisions of EU institutions and national authorities are informed by the needs of industrial electricity users and grid technology providers.

Brian Denvir, Senior Lead, Energy Markets, EMEA at Google, highlights this point. 

Expressing excitement to be joining GIGA, he said: “It’s an opportunity to partner with other like-minded electricity consuming industries and work together with the European energy industry to modernise Europe’s grids. We’re looking forward to working with EU and national energy stakeholders to share the best practices we’ve seen in our operations across Europe and worldwide.”

Philipp Offenberg, Head of Government and Executive Affairs Office Brussels at Siemens Energy, also comments: “Europe cannot electrify its economy with yesterday’s approaches to grid planning, permitting and modernisation. That’s why we helped launch GIGA. GIGA brings together manufacturers and major electricity consumers to break through the complexities that have stalled progress for far too long.”

Other GIGA founder members in addition to Fastned, AWS, Google and Siemens Energy are Electra, Hitachi Energy, Linde, Meta, Metlen, Milence and Microsoft.

Grids package

In a position paper on the European Commission’s grids package, GIGA welcomes its focus on optimising conditions along the full lifecycle of the grid, but sees opportunities for improvement with concrete solutions.

These include closing the industrial demand gap in grid planning with a structural mechanism to integrate industrial electricity needs, location choices and load-growth trajectories and the need for clear guidance on how to fund the €1.2 trillion financing gap to 2040 and the implementation of a totex funding approach for system operators.

To accelerate access to power, GIGA calls for a clear framework for flexible connections and structural improvements in grid access policy, including mandating a connection request project readiness framework, establishing a single digital portal for permitting and bundling assessments of projects at a single location. There also should be periodic reporting on permitting and connection timelines.

As a first step, GIGA’s launch was accompanied by a first policy discussion in Brussels. Reported outcomes include highlighting the importance of aligning grid planning, connection processes and investment frameworks with future demand, and of ensuring that reforms translate into faster and more predictable outcomes on the ground.

Building on this initial discussion, GIGA intends to continue to engage with policymakers, regulators and system operators as work on the grids package and related initiatives progresses.