Why Europe and US must learn net zero lessons from each other

The US and Europe need to learn from one another and build models of collaboration to speed grid modernisation and expand capacity, write Anthony Allard and Johan Söderström of Hitachi Energy.

The best, most logical way to meet climate goals and reverse warming trends is through electrification.

The US could cut its energy use dramatically by converting most energy endpoints to electricity. Moving to 100% renewables would result in similarly dramatic reductions in carbon emissions.

Recently, the US has made meaningful strides in its energy transition efforts. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the country’s largest-ever investment in climate and clean energy, has initiated transformative change.

According to the Solar Energy Industry Association, the IRA is putting the country on track to reach 668GW in total solar capacity by 2033.

But despite this progress, the US still has work to do, and policymakers, climate activists and industry stakeholders face an uphill battle to accelerate the energy transition.

The US trails progress made in Europe, which has set ambitious targets to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030 and to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

Electrification in the US faces three primary challenges: a lack of a centralised, national plan for electrical transmission; insufficient transmission infrastructure to serve areas attractive for renewable development; and obstacles slowing the realisation of offshore wind’s potential.

There is currently no high-level transmission plan in the US. Instead, local priorities continue to take precedence over national objectives.

In contrast, the EU passed the European Green Deal to achieve the world’s first carbon-neutral continent by 2050, including steps to optimise transmission.

The EU has since continued to pass legislation providing energy efficiency and energy transition guidelines to member countries, such as RePowerEU and Fit for 55.

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Given that Europe is arguably on track to meet the Paris Agreement’s climate goals and the US remains behind on its targets, the EU’s top-down approach shows merit.

Policymakers in the US need to push for a national strategy that states, local municipalities and utilities can follow to accelerate transition efforts.

In the absence of national guidance, utilities can still collaborate to build their own networks across state lines and regions to build transmission capacity. Increased engagement and transparency can help align around future infrastructure upgrades and disaster recovery strategies, bolstering grid resiliency in any given region — a critical requirement in the face of climate-change driven erratic and extreme weather.

For instance, private developers, utilities and community partners in Quebec and New York State are collaborating to establish high-capacity transmission links between parts of Canada rich in hydropower and major load centres, including New York City.

Similarly, projects such as the Biscay Gulf interconnection — the first subsea electrical link between France and Spain — are expected to improve the safety, stability and quality of supply between these countries and the rest of Europe.

Projects like this will facilitate power sharing between different regions in the future.

It’s clear that major investments are needed in the US and Europe to modernise the transmission and distribution networks that transport renewable energy from where it’s generated to where it’s needed.

As we move from fossil fuels to renewables, upgrades will be needed to meet the unique requirements of variable generation sources.

For example, energy storage can help smooth out energy flows and more HVDC lines will be needed to quickly move renewable energy over long distances with little loss, from West Texas wind farms to Midwestern cities, for example.

There is an overall need for more highcapacity connections, both east-west and north-south, to support energy sharing and enable demand management across time zones.

This need will be particularly acute as we move from generating power at thermal power plants built near cities and other load centres to relying on solar and wind generation sources being developed where they are the most plentiful and cheapest to produce, which tend to be in remote locations.

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Eliminate obstacles

Because of the size, scope and complexity of long-distance transmission projects, they demand extensive collaboration between utilities, states, counties, municipalities, and even countries. We need to eliminate obstacles that can slow project development.

To meet the aggressive timelines brought on by the climate crisis, industry partners need to ramp up manufacturing capacity, attract talent, and build knowledge and capacity — a strong plan can provide the predictability that all participants in the ecosystem will need to make the appropriate investments.

Fortunately, there are some large-scale, long-distance transmission projects in the US that are scheduled to go online in the coming years. For instance, the Champlain Hudson Power Express HVDC interconnection will transmit clean, renewable hydropower between Canada and New York. It is expected to decrease CO2 emissions by 3.9 million metric tonnes per year.

The SunZia Transmission Project will deliver enough renewable energy from New Mexico’s wind farms to Arizona’s grid to provide power for approximately three million Americans in cities like Los Angeles.

Europe is moving even faster, with projects in Germany connecting the windy North Sea with industrial centres in Bavaria, for instance, and in Scotland, connecting offshore wind to more densely populated southern England. There’s even a proposed plan to bring 3.6GW of electricity from a solar farm in Morocco to England, via a 3,800s km undersea HVDC cables,

However, these types of projects are too few and too far between. Modernising the grid at the scale and pace required will demand a deeper commitment and even greater investment.

Critical projects

While the IRA has spurred the energy generation and energy storage industries in the US, it has not yet sped up the permitting process or provided funds to support these critical projects to the extent needed for the US to make sufficient gains in the energy transition.

Unlocking the potential of offshore wind energy over the next 25 years will be critical to achieving net-zero emissions.

While offshore projects have been slow to get moving in the US, Europe has been implementing them for many years.

Leading European grid operator TenneT, for instance, has launched an ambitious offshore wind ‘2GW Programme’, under which it will deploy six record-breaking renewable integration systems, five that will connect offshore wind farms to the Dutch grid and the sixth to the German grid.

Each of these connections has a capacity of 2GW, promising to make enormous contributions to regional decarbonisation efforts.

There has been progress in the US as well, driven in part by strong commitments at both the federal and state levels.

The installation of the first turbines for the Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket is expected to be completed by the end of 2023 — but progress in the industry overall is slow.

Supply chain challenges, a lack of equipment, and the complexity of building multi-terminal systems are slowing project timelines.

 Once the wind farms under development are up and running, operational challenges such as adapting to fast-changing weather conditions, establishing interconnections between onshore grids and/or setting up meshed grids offshore will need to be addressed as well.

Again, the US can take a page from its European counterparts to build a set of field-tested best practices.

Remaining challenges

To accelerate the clean energy transition, the US and Europe need to learn from one another and build models of collaboration that can speed grid modernisation and eliminate obstacles to expanding capacity.

In Europe, fresh guidance is already coming from governing bodies and international cooperation has yielded some meaningful successes — this is sorely needed in the US.

Europe is also well ahead in terms of harnessing offshore wind energy and has many lessons to share with American utilities.

Bold steps like the IRA are a step in the right direction, and similar approaches could be beneficial in Europe.

Together, we need to move faster to overcome our respective challenges and leverage learnings from across the globe to build the electrical backbone on which the entire energy system will depend.

About the authors: Anthony Allard is head of Hitachi Energy in North America. Johan Soderstrom is head of Hitachi Energy in Europe, Middle East and Africa.