wiredinUSA January 2015

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wiredInUSA - January 2015 23 EUROPE NEWS
Researchers at Cardiff University are
working with Belgium’s Leuven University
on the MEDOW project – the development
of a “super grid” to enable sharing of
renewable power across Europe.
Professor Nick Jenkins, leader of energy at
Cardiff School of Engineering, said: “Wind
power is a source of clean, renewable
electricity. We need to make more of it to
become less reliant on expensive imported
fossil fuels. In 2012, over half of the energy
that the EU consumed was imported from
outside the union.”
MEDOW is working to develop a DC grid –
an efficient way of transmitting and sharing
power. The premise is that a pan-European
grid, rather than single point-to-point
connections, will reinforce reliability and
help balance power supply and demand.
Professor Jenkins added: “New wind farms
are likely to be placed offshore, where
wind speeds are higher and turbines
less intrusive. As offshore wind power is
generated a long way from where it is
used, we need to find better ways of
transporting the power to the onshore
grid. Increasing our use of wind power will
also support the future electrification of
heating and transport, which could make
a big difference to carbon emissions and
reliance on fuel imports.”
MEDOW (Multi-terminal DC grid for
offshore wind) is a Marie Curie Initial
Training Network funded by the European
Commission and is coordinated by
Cardiff University’s School of Engineering.
The team is working with a total of five
universities and six industrial organizations.
sharing
power
across
europe