Energy systems rely on long-lived, capital-intensive infrastructure. Once built, networks are largely fixed in location for decades. Making the right planning decisions is therefore central to delivering a decarbonised, secure and affordable energy system, and to avoiding stranded assets and lock-in to high-carbon solutions.  

The next ten to fifteen years will be pivotal: the EU must simultaneously decarbonise power, electrify industry, buildings and transport, integrate new hydrogen and CO₂ infrastructure, and phase out most fossil generation. Infrastructure planning has the potential to enable this transition or slow it down.  

Over time, the EU has developed several complementary planning processes, each with its own scope and purpose. These include Union-wide network development via the Ten-Year Network Development Plan (TYNDP), national transmission and distribution development plans, adequacy assessments such as the European Resource Adequacy Assessment (ERAA) and National Resource Adequacy Assessments (NRAAs), as well as newer exercises such as flexibility needs assessments and the selection of cross-border infrastructure as Projects of Common. The proposals, published in the European Grids Package (2025), move this framework towards a more integrated EU planning system, including a central EU scenario and stronger coordination between national and European planning. 

Among these instruments, the TYNDP plays a particularly central role. Prepared every two years by ENTSO-E, it provides a pan-European view of future system needs and serves as the main analytical basis for identifying priority cross-border projects.

This brief focuses on three tightly linked questions: 

• How does the governance framework shape, enable or constrain improvements in these areas? 

• How is industrial demand currently modelled and integrated into TYNDP planning? 

• How is energy efficiency treated and operationalised in practice? 

Read more in our position paper