The plan provides guidelines for development of infrastructure for transportation of oil, gas, electricity and CO2 in Europe until 2030. It is part of the new EU energy strategy and will be the main subject at the EU summit in February 2011. The Commission will propose concrete legal principles during 2011, bills that can be EEA relevant, and thus become binding for Norway.

Offshore grid and direct links between Scandinavia and continental Europe is topping the list of priorities until 2020. Along with improved transmission capacities to storage capacity in the Alps, these connections are expected to add flexibility to a power system which in the future will consist of an increasing share of wind power. The idea is that hydropower can be stored and used when there is no wind on the continent.

Contributes to energy security

According to the EU commission, improved network and multiple links between countries will make the system more flexible and thus contribute positively to security of supply. More connections between the countries is also described as necessary to facilitate the increased share of renewable energy such as wind power, and increased power consumption as a result of new electricity-based technologies, such as electric cars.

To achieve the desired rate of development, the EU Commission also stresses that it is necessary to increase the pace of regulatory processes relating to new projects. Furthermore, the EU places strong emphasis on new solutions for power transmission and storage of energy must be developed.