| Europe will select 30 cities to pioneer
hi-tech energy systems, while half the power grid should be
able to handle renewable energy using 'smart' systems,
according to a draft EU document.
"The goal is that, by 2020, 50 percent of networks in Europe
would enable the seamless integration of renewables and operate
along 'smart' principles, effectively matching supply
and demand," the European Commission said in a draft of its
Strategic Energy Technology Plan.
The so-called SET-plan, which has been over a year in the
making, lays out the EU's strategy for promoting hi-tech solutions
to climate change, aiming to give European businesses a head
start as the world switches to low-carbon energy.
'By 2020, Smart Cities should put 25 to 30 European cities
at the forefront of the transition to a low carbon future'
- said the report, obtained by Reuters, which will
be officially released next month.
'These Smart Cities will be the nuclei from which smart
networks, a new generation of buildings and alternative transport
means will develop into European wide realities' - it
added.
Billions of euros will be needed for the transition, but
EU officials are still calculating the exact need.
The return on investment in wind power 'would be fully
competitive wind power generation capable of contributing
up to 20 percent of EU electricity by 2020 and as much as
33 percent by 2030' - the plan said.
The 2020 target for wind is slightly ahead of the European
Wind Energy Association's own goal of 14-18 percent.
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