1.1

What is the Ten-Year Network Development Plan?

The Ten-Year Network Development Plan (TYNDP) is a biennial package published by ENTSO-E, which presents an overview of the transmission expansion plans that are identified as necessary to ensure that the transmission grid facilitates EU energy policy goals.

The goals are to; maintain security of supply, mitigate against climate change and facilitate the internal energy market (IEM). This package consists of a main document (the TYNDP), six Regional Investment Plans (RgIPs), which are developed by ENTSO-E’ Regional Groups , and a Scenario Outlook & Adequacy Forecast (SO&AF). 

Complying with Regulations (EC) 714/2009 and 347/2013, these eight reports jointly deliver a structured, systematic and comprehensive vision for European grid development through to 2030. The reports describe the significant investments in the European power sector that are required to achieve the European energy policy goals of security of supply, climate change mitigation and facilitation of the IEM.

The TYNDP assesses projects of pan-European significance for the year 2030, using a cost benefit analysis on the return on investment. The benefits of each project that are considered for analysis include; the increase in social and economic welfare of the impacted countries, the impact on security of supply, integration of renewable energy sources (RES), the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and the impact a project has on transmission losses, as well as the resulting technical resilience of the system.

The projects assessed in the TYNDP are those that are planned over the following 10 years and the studies are done under four Visions, based on conditions at the year 2030; when it is expected that the vast majority of the projects that are required will have been commissioned.

1.2

What are projects of pan-European significance?

A project of pan-European significance is a set of extra high voltage assets that matches a defined set of criteria. The main equipment must be: at least 220 kV if it is an overhead AC line, or at least 150 kV otherwise; at least partially located in one of the 32 countries represented in the TYNDP; and contributing to a grid transfer capability (GTC) increase across a network boundary within the ENTSO-E interconnected network, or at its borders. GTC is a measure of how much power can be expected to flow through the asset, taking into account the physical characteristics of the network. 

1.3

What are third party projects?

The TYNDP focuses on transmission expansion plans, of which most of the projects are proposed by licensed transmission system operators (TSOs) of Member States, who are ENTSO-E members. Some projects are however proposed by ‘third parties’. Three types of third party can propose projects of pan-European significance;

a) promoters that are a TSO and hold a transmission operating license but are not a member of ENTSO-E, for example connections to Turkey or Russia, or

b) promoters that are entities and do not hold a transmission license, for example merchant subsea connections between the UK and continental Europe, or;

c) promoters of electricity storage projects.

Projects proposed by both third parties and TSOs are assessed simultaneously under the same cost benefit analysis methodology. ENTSO-E also has a process for additional legal and technical assessments of third party projects for inclusion in the TYNDP (please see Third Party Project announcement).

1.4

What are Projects of Common Interest?

According to Regulation (EU) 347/2013, Projects of Common Interest (PCI’s) are electricity projects that have significant benefits for at least two Member States. They contribute to market integration and further competition; enhance security of supply and reduce CO2 emissions.

The Regulation states that for an electricity transmission or storage project to be recognised as a Project of Common Interest, it must be included in the preceding TYNDP. However; the assessment process to gain inclusion in the PCI list is separate from that of being in the TYNDP, is done subsequently, and is the responsibility of the European Commission. There is no distinction between TSO and third party projects in the PCI process.

The European Commission is set to publish a list of PCIs every two years and the first PCI list was released in October 2013.  Projects with PCI status could benefit from three areas of support; faster and more efficient permit granting procedures, improved regulatory treatment and the possibility to access financial support from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).

1.5

What are 2030 Visions?

The ENTSO-E 2030 Visions are descriptions of four extreme future scenarios, built on the interaction of economic parameters that drive decisions on investments in generation and demand patterns, for example; economic growth, fuel prices and CO2 prices.

These scenarios, which include assumptions on generation and demand, are created by ENTSO-E in collaboration with stakeholders, through various workshops and a public consultation.

The scenarios are neither predictions, nor forecasts about the future. It is not claimed that one scenario will be more likely to happen than another, nor that one scenario is preferred over another. Each scenario is one alternative image of how the future European electricity system could develop.

These four contrasted Vision scenarios are used for project assessments to the 2030 horizon; with individual transmission projects assessed as to how much benefit they have under each of the four extreme conditions.

Download the complete TYNDP FAQs in pdf