With nine partners, comprised of European non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and transmission system operators (TSOs) and a research institute, the EU-funded BESTGRID project worked towards modernising and expanding the current European electricity grid for the integration of a growing share of electricity from renewable sources.

The project in a nutshell

Launched in April 2013, BESTGRID was made up of five pilot projects located in Belgium, Germany and the UK. During the project, TSOs and NGOs worked together to improve local and public acceptance for grid development processes. Objectives of the project were to enhance transparency and public participation, to speed up permitting procedures by proactively addressing or even surpassing environmental protection standards, and to encourage the implementation of constructive public engagement in permitting procedures for European energy infrastructure “projects of common interest.”

Jointly, partners learned about how to implement better practices in developing the grid. Three of the pilot projects had have a stronger focus on designing and testing new activities, while two focused on evaluating activities that had already been developed and implemented. The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) lent support by evaluating the activities from a scientific perspective.