IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2014 - 48

hvdc (cSc-hvdc) link for the balearic islands and a 220-kv,
250-MW ac link to Malta.
Furthermore, the southwestern european systems play a
key role in connecting europe to north africa, where conventional, solar, and wind energy are all available. the continental european network is synchronously coupled with
the northwestern Maghreb countries (algeria, Morocco, and
tunisia) via a single interconnection between Morocco and
Spain (2x700-MW ac). Other systems in the region include
the northeastern Maghreb countries (egypt and libya); the
Mashreq countries (Jordan, lebanon, and Syria); israel and
the Palestinian territories; and turkey (teiaS).
two main groups of grid developments in the Mediterranean area are planned. the first consists of projects needed
to complete the so-called Mediterranean ring (Medring) that
will interconnect most of the power systems of the countries
around the Mediterranean. the second is the cross-Mediterranean undersea interconnection of selected power systems
on the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean.
closing the Medring in hvac mode remains complex, as
demonstrated by the failure of the latest attempt (april 2010)
to synchronize tunisia (and the european continental network) with libya. the problems have to do with dynamic and
stability issues. the option of closing the Medring using full
hvdc lines or back-to-back (b2b) hvdc systems seems more
feasible; in fact, this would allow for higher net transfer capacities and less difficult operation of the interconnected systems.
in this way, when turkish grid synchronization with the continental european network is achieved, the two sections of the
Medring that are still not synchronously interconnected-
namely, the tunisia-libya and turkey-Syria borders-may be
directly interlinked via full or b2b hvdc schemes.
a number of initiatives and plans, such as the deSertec
industrial initiative and Medgrid, foresee at different levels
and under various time horizons and scenarios a large reSbased electricity exchange between the two Mediterranean
shores. the first cross-Mediterranean hvdc interconnection is a link planned between tunisia and italy. additional
potential hvdc interconnections, such as algeria-Spain,
algeria-italy, and libya-italy, have been investigated in
recent years. Many factors-technical, regulatory, financial, market, socioenvironmental, and political-hinder the
implementation of such projects in the short to medium term.

Central and Southeastern Europe
in central and eastern europe several grid upgrades are
needed, especially in the czech republic and Poland and
at the interfaces with eastern and northeastern Germany, as
well in the grids of austria, hungary, and Slovakia. at the
same time, considering that generation capacity in Germany
is concentrated in the northeast while load is increasing
mostly in the south, considerable north-south transfer capacities should be planned. in the medium and long term, there
is the need for additional generation connection and interconnection capacities within and between the southeastern
48

ieee power & energy magazine

european countries and also for increasing transfer capacity
with central europe. Other axes to be expanded are the eastwest corridor between the adriatic and black Sea countries
as well as the corridors at the borders of italy with austria
and Slovenia. as far as interconnections with non-eu countries are concerned, the most ambitious plan concerns the
potential coupling of the european continental zone (the former ucte) with the iPS/uPS system in the former Soviet
countries. the latest studies maintain that a synchronous
connection may be feasible only as a long-term option, due
to technical, operational, legal, and regulatory issues. For
these reasons, nonsynchronous system coupling by hvdc
(in full or b2b links) is thought to be the safest short-term
solution. it is also worth mentioning that there are a number
of old 750-kv extra high-voltage (ehv) a cover head lines
that are currently out of operation or partly disconnected at
the border between the continental european system and
the iPS/uPS system that could be reused as the future backbones of a potential pan-european supergrid.

BEMIP
in 2009, eight baltic Sea eu member states (denmark, estonia,
Finland, Germany, latvia, lithuania, Poland, and Sweden),
along with norway as an observer, issued the baltic energy
Market interconnection Plan (beMiP). beMiP's main priority
is strengthening the interconnections between the baltic states
and the other eu countries. the baltic states are still synchronously connected with the power systems of the republic of
belarus and the russian Federation (iPS/uPS); the 2006 tieline between estonia and Finland (estlink 1,350-MWvSchvdc) is the only link with the eu power systems to date.
Other interconnections are planned between lithuania and
Poland (litPol, 400-kv, 2x500-MWb2bhvdc), between
lithuania and Sweden (nordbalt, 700-MWvSc-hvdc),
between estonia and Finland (estlink 2, 650-MWcSchvdc), and possibly between latvia and Sweden. additional
reinforcements, especially in latvia and lithuania, as well as
cross-border interconnections between latvia and lithuania
and between estonia and latvia are also planned in the short
and medium term. new nuclear power plant proposals, like
the one in the area of the russian enclave of Kaliningrad, will
also be included in the planning studies for the grid due to their
impact on the baltic power system.
Figure 2 depicts the main changes-both those that have
already occurred and those that are anticipated-in the interconnection of the different electricity subsystems that make
up the european power grid, as described above in detail.
in summary, a prospective pan-european supergrid may
in the long run include an enlarged hvac continental network
that synchronously interconnects with the baltic countries,
Moldova, turkey, and possibly ukraine and further asynchronously links up with the british isles and Scandinavia, along
with the presence of a closed Mediterranean ring and interconnections between the north and south shores of the Mediterranean. in this system, islands like cyprus and iceland (via
march/april 2014



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2014

IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2014 - Cover1
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IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2014 - Cover3
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2014 - Cover4
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