ACER publishes today its Opinion on the draft electricity ten-year network development plan (TYNDP) 2024 and the Infrastructure Gaps Identification report 2024, submitted by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E).
Cross-border electricity infrastructure is key to interconnecting Europe’s electricity markets, making it easier to share electricity across countries. This is important to integrate more renewables onto the grid and achieve ambitious decarbonisation goals.
Every two years, European grid operators submit their draft EU-wide ten-year network development plan (TYNDP) to ACER for its opinion. Given the scale of infrastructure needs and that related costs are expected to make up a growing share of electricity bills, having a robust and fit-for-purpose TYNDP is key to efficient grid development.
The TYNDP is expected to play a central role by identifying cross-border energy infrastructure needs and ensuring that projects bringing the most benefit for the EU are put forward.
On 9 April 2025, ENTSO-E submitted its 2024 draft TYNDP to ACER, along with the electricity Infrastructure Gaps Identification report. Developed within the framework of the TYNDP 2024, the latter provides a pan-European view of future power system needs up to 2050, focusing on cross-border infrastructure and storage capacities. It highlights where current or planned electricity projects might be insufficient to meet those future needs.
In its Opinion 04-2025, ACER provides recommendations to be addressed by ENTSO-E to finalise its 2024 TYNDP and prepare future editions. ACER’s recommendations aim to support investment decisions and facilitate the efficient development of the European electricity grid, in line with broader EU policy goals.
ACER welcomes the progress made so far and acknowledges ENTSO-E’s continued effort to introduce improvements in each new edition of the TYNDP.
ACER finds that the 2024 draft TYNDP generally contributes to the objectives of non-discrimination and effective competition but does not sufficiently contribute to the efficient functioning of the electricity market or ensure an adequate level of cross-border interconnection open to third-party access.
While recognising the complexity of the TYNDP process within its two-year timeframe, ACER notes that several of its previous recommendations remain unaddressed, including the need to improve timeliness and transparency. Other aspects, like enhancing the granularity of the information provided, also need to be addressed.
Ensure timely submission of the TYNDP and of the Infrastructure Gaps Identification report to ACER by addressing the root causes of the recurring delays.
Conduct substantial consultations on assumptions and methodologies used, well before the drafting begins.
Strengthen the medium-term analyses (over a 10- or 15-year horizon) to identify future infrastructure gaps and assess projects’ costs and benefits more effectively.
Improve transparency and consistency of the information on existing grids and projects.
Base the modelling of the electricity network on an appropriate starting grid (for the gaps analysis) and reference grids (for the cost-benefit assessment).
Provide more granular information on infrastructure needs and gaps, including an analysis of capacity constraints within Member States’ networks.
Improve transparency of the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) results and continue work towards full implementation of the 4th CBA Guideline.
Ensure full compliance with ACER’s Scenario Framework Guidelines and its Opinion on ENTSOs’ draft TYNDP 2024 Scenario Report.
ENTSO-E is asked to implement ACER’s recommendations both to finalise the 2024 TYNDP and to further improve its upcoming editions.
As Europe moves away from Russian fossil fuels, liquified natural gas (LNG) is becoming an increasingly important flexible supply source. But with future gas demand uncertain, the EU faces a trade-off: securing higher LNG volumes to ensure stabler pricing, while maintaining the flexibility to avoid over-contracting in a changing market.
To manage future gas demand uncertainty and price risks, key actions are needed from policymakers, network operators and market players:
Register for the ACER webinar on the evolving role of LNG in Europe (28 May 2025).
Gas
As Europe moves away from Russian fossil fuels, liquified natural gas (LNG) is becoming an increasingly important flexible supply source. However, with a growing reliance on LNG and uncertainty around future gas demand (driven by decarbonisation goals), Europe faces a trade-off: securing higher LNG volumes to ensure stabler pricing, while maintaining the flexibility to avoid over-contracting in a changing market environment.
To manage the uncertainty surrounding future gas demand under the EU decarbonisation targets and to mitigate associated price volatility risks, a balanced strategy is needed – one that combines securing additional LNG supply with accelerated decarbonisation. To achieve this, EU and national policy makers, network operators and market players should focus on the following priorities:
Accelerate decarbonisation efforts to reduce gas demand: Faster deployment of renewables and improvements in energy efficiency will lower overall gas demand, reducing reliance on both spot and contracted LNG volumes. While this strengthens energy security, it also highlights the importance of demand-side decarbonisation.
was imported by the EU in 2024, keeping it the world’s largest LNG importer.
of the EU’s total gas supply came from LNG in 2024, nearly doubling its share since 2021.
of LNG was purchased by the EU on the spot market in 2024, with exposure to spot price volatility.
ACER’s 2025 Monitoring Report on the European LNG market developments:
Curious about the main numbers and takeaways?
ACER will hold a webinar to present the main findings and recommendations of this report.
When?
Wednesday 28 May 2025 at 10:00 CEST.
ACER’s REMIT Quarterly provides updates on the Regulation on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT) and related activities, helping stakeholders stay informed on developments that enhance transparency and integrity in the EU energy markets.
The 40th edition covers the first quarter of 2025 and marks a decade of progress in centralised EU-wide data collection, which is essential to ensure transparent and fair wholesale energy markets.
This edition includes:
Today, ACER publishes the outcome of its monitoring activity on projects of common interest (PCIs) and projects of mutual interest (PMIs).
ACER assessed the status and progress of projects included in the first Union list of PCIs and PMIs (2024). These projects cover electricity, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, electrolysers and gas infrastructure categories.
For the first time, the findings of ACER monitoring are presented through an interactive dashboard, which offers a detailed outline of the projects’ progress, regulatory treatment and financing status. The dashboard is complemented by individual project overviews.
The concepts of projects of common interest (PCIs) and projects of mutual interest (PMIs) are defined under the Trans-European Networks for Energy Regulation (TEN-E Regulation). These are key energy projects designed to increase network and market integration, as well as to support the decarbonisation of infrastructure grids between EU Member States (PCIs) or with non-EU countries (PMIs).
The European Commission is responsible for selecting and publishing both PCIs and PMIs lists every two years (the Union list). ACER is tasked with monitoring their progress based on data submitted by project promoters and national competent authorities. This year’s monitoring covered 130 projects.
In the following months, the outcomes of ACER’s monitoring will be examined by the regional groups (composed by experts from Member States, transmission and distribution system operators, as well as energy regulators and the European Commission) as part of the selection process for the 2025 Union list.
