Ten leading European companies gathered Monday to announce the launch of a new group that will help European lawmakers set the framework for the construction of a European electricity super-grid in the North Sea.

The first phase of the super-grid would cost about EUR34 billion and would connect England, Scotland, Germany and Norway through 5,000 kilometers of transmission cables, said Eddie O'Connor in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires. O'Connor was speaking on behalf of the new group, Friends of the Supergrid, and is chief executive of Ireland's Mainstream Renewable Power Company which is a member of the group.

He said construction could start as early as 2015 and would likely take two years to build.

The super-grid, which is still in a conceptual phase, would be able to transmit large volumes of off-shore wind power in the North Sea to areas of high energy consumption, cheaply and efficiently, he said.

The group is composed of companies such as Siemens AG (SI) and Hochtief AG (HOT.XE) of Germany, France's Areva (CEI.FR), and Prysmian SpA (PRY.MI)of Italy. The remaining members include Visser & Smit Marine Contracting, DEME Group, Belgium's transmission operator Elia System Operator SA (ELI.BT), Mainstream Renewable Power and renewable energy research firm 3E.

The Friends of the Supergrid will be based in Brussels and will limit membership to 20 companies, O'Connor said.

Company Web Site: http://www.friendsofthesupergrid.eu/

-By Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9328; alex.macdonald@dowjones.com
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