Elia Grid International (EGI)’s Post

Last week, we had the pleasure to host the GCC Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) during its biannual Executive Study Tour, this time focusing on Europe. For the first two days of the program, we had pleasure to welcome the delegation in Berlin together with 50Hertz Transmission GmbH, offering in-depth insights into Germany’s energy transition pathway and its implications for regional cooperation. On the first day, the delegation met with representatives from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE), including H.E. Parliamentary State Secretary Stefan Rouenhoff, for an exchange on Germany’s national energy strategy, renewable expansion, and interconnection planning. Participants were welcomed by Elia Group Head of Strategy Olivier Feix, who presented the company’s decarbonisation strategy and discussed the pathway to net-zero for 50Hertz and Germany. Throughout the two days of the Berlin-visit, technical experts from 50Hertz shared insights and key lessons learnt on how their system has reached the remarkable variable renewable integration of 75% for last year: ⚡Advanced system planning for net-zero scenarios: the role of overlay corridors to transport renewables to demand centres ⚡The necessity of coordinated congestion management at regional level ⚡The role of energy storage and respective operational implications from expected wave of projects ⚡The evolution of system operations on variable-RES dominated systems ⚡The deployment of E-STATCOMs as main pillars for system stability ⚡Digitalisation of system operations and the Modular Control Centre System (MCCS) initiative During the second day of the visit, the delegation visited Siemens’ Zukunftsraumenergie (ENSURE) showroom, getting a deep dive on innovative solutions for tomorrow’s integrated and flexible energy systems, highlighting the role of digitalisation, sector coupling, and system resilience in enabling a secure and decarbonised grid. This study tour is part of EGI’s continued collaboration with GCCIA and builds upon over 15 years of active presence in the Middle East, advising public and private stakeholders on renewable energy integration, system planning, and interconnection. We look forward to continuing to contribute to their ambitious energy transformation and to strengthening EU-Gulf cooperation in the energy transition. 🌍 For more information about this visit or EGI’s regional activities, please do not hesitate to reach out to Georgios Papaefthymiou Quentin Dominique Blommaert, Nivan Moodley, and Frédéric Van Cauteren Anne Jacobs, Bilun Mueller, Tillmann Rudolf Braun, Sebastian Biesel, Klaus von Sengbusch, Cornelius Heck, Arya Fazilat, Hendrik Just, Maria H., Florian Sass, Ralf Blumenthal, Cynthia Foly, Jörn Hartung, Guidehouse Dr. Karoline Steinbacher, Henrik Schult,