SuperNode, the developer of superconducting cable technologies, has responded to the European Commission’s call for evidence on a EU Start-up and Scale-up Strategy.
SuperNode agrees with the European Commission’s stocktaking that “the full benefits of the energy transition will only materialise when zero- and low-carbon technologies will more permanently replace fossil fuels, and when major investments in grids, storage and flexibility are completed”.
In addition to the hurdles identified in the Commission’s stocktaking, Supernode reminded the European Commission about the challenges for scaleup and startup companies identified by the Commission’s Clean Transition Dialogue on Energy Infrastructure on 27 February 2024 and the stocktaking that followed. These emphasised a need for simplification of the rules for the Innovation Fund and increasing support for green scale-ups while it “considered access to EU funds to be complex and lengthy due to different eligibility criteria, application procedures, and red tape”.
SuperNode chief public affairs officer said: “Grid technologies are enabling technologies, that often operate under complex conditions when seeking to demonstrate and scale up production of innovative products. Often there are no incentives for distribution and transmission system operators to demonstrate and apply innovative technologies, even those that can demonstrate positive economic, environmental and circularity benefits.”
Already, the effects of inadequate interconnection and growth in renewables are being felt by European electricity consumers. Over the period 2022-23, in Germany alone, 33 TWh of electricity was curtailed at a cost of €7.3B to German electricity consumers.
SuperNode Ltd was established in 2018 and is developing products based on superconductors that can increase the transfer capacity of electricity cables by 5-10 times of conventional copper or aluminium electricity cables.
European Commission’s call for evidence on a EU Start-up and Scale-up Strategy
SuperNode’s response
CurrENT’s response