IN Brief:
- Five European DSO organisations have published a joint response to the EU grids package, focusing on permitting and TEN-E reform.
- The paper argues that distribution networks remain underfunded and underrepresented despite carrying most grid length and a large share of projected investment.
- The organisations are seeking dedicated DSO funding, stronger bottom-up planning, and broader eligibility for lower-voltage smart grid projects.
E.DSO, together with CEDEC, DSO Entity, Eurelectric, and GEODE, has called for stronger treatment of electricity distribution networks in Europe’s latest grid policy framework. The joint paper focuses on two areas: the proposed acceleration of permitting procedures for grid assets, and the planned revision of the TEN-E regulation.
The paper argues that the current framework still gives insufficient weight to the decentralised level of the system. The organisations point to distribution networks as the largest part of the electricity grid in physical terms, accounting for 10 million of the EU’s 11 million kilometres of grid, and they cite an estimated €730 billion investment requirement between 2024 and 2040. Despite that, they say current proposals continue to favour transmission-led approaches and do not provide a dedicated funding mechanism for DSOs.
On permitting, the group is pushing for grid connection procedures to be treated separately from public permitting processes, with a standard three-month deadline for grid connection decisions rather than a shorter timetable for smaller projects. It also wants additional safeguards around tacit approval measures where technical feasibility, grid safety, and system security are in question.
On TEN-E, the paper calls for lower-voltage projects to be eligible within the smart electricity grids category and for smart grid schemes to qualify as projects of mutual interest. The joint text is set out in full in the DSO organisations’ paper, which frames distribution planning, digital upgrades, storage connections, and renewable integration as core elements of Europe’s next grid investment cycle.
