Guardian: Britain will benefit from joining itself up to the European energy grid

With EU regulations demanding European countries contribute to the cost of new infrastructure, the time to invest is now. In Europe, electricity is a commodity traded on an hourly or half-hourly basis, often months ahead of its actual use in homes or businesses. Every unit of electricity that we consume is traded several times before it is delivered.

There is a single electricity market in Europe (the biggest in the world), but not a single price for electricity. There are still barriers to trade, some to do with regulation and others created by missing physical infrastructure.

This is also the case for Britain. Towards Ireland, there is a submarine electrical cable running from Scotland to Northern Ireland, and another from Wales to the Republic of Ireland. Towards the continent, there is a submarine cable connecting England to the Netherlands, and another between England and France. But the combined capacity of these cables is less than 5% of the total electricity production capacity of Britain.
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