ENCOURAGED: Energy Corridor Optimisation for the European Markets for Gas, Electricity and Hydrogen

Summary

In several publications the EU emphasizes its role as a force for stability and sustainable development in Europe. Extending the benefits of the Internal Market is part of actions of the EU to integrate the energy markets of surrounding countries. Also the current and future neighbouring countries play a vital role in the development of the EU, as they are the main suppliers and transit counties of oil and natural gas. That role will grow significantly in the next decades and is extended in the next decades with electricity trade and later with hydrogen supply from neighbouring countries.

The objectives of ENCOURAGED are threefold:

1. To assess the economic optimal energy interconnections and network infrastructure for electricity, gas and hydrogen of EU with and through neighbouring regions (North Africa, Middle East and Turkey, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and Iceland) connecting EU with key producers in next decades,
2. to identify, quantify and evaluate the barriers and potential benefits of a large European ‘energy connected area’, and
3. to recommend the necessary measures to be adopted to ensure, realize and implement these energy corridors and realise a high-level of network security and organise workshops and a final stakeholders conference to assure consensus among scientists, stakeholders and NGOs and to validate the results.

Role for ECN Policy Studies

ECN Policy Studies coordinated the ENCOURAGED project. In addition it was work package leader of work package 4 and 5, which oversaw the integration of research in earlier work packages and the drafting of policy recommendations.

Partners

The partners involved in the ENCOURAGED project were: CESI RICERCA, OME, IAEW RWTH Aachen, Enviros, OME, BSRES, Centre for Energy Policy (CEP), IBS Research and Consultancy, IMEPOWER, Red Electrica de Espana (REE), and VTT.

Status

The project is closed. It ran from January 2005 to December 2006.

More information

For more information please contact Jeroen de Joode.