Why Europe Is Mixing AC and DC to Fix Its Grid

EU-backed HYPERRIDE project shows how combining AC and DC systems could cut losses and improve resilience as renewables expand

16 Mar 2025

Europe has tested a hybrid electricity grid that blends alternating current and direct current systems, offering a potential route to a more flexible and resilient power network as renewable generation and electrification grow.

The EU-funded HYPERRIDE project, led by the Austrian Institute of Technology, has completed field trials of a grid architecture that allows AC and DC networks to operate together. The approach is intended to reduce energy losses and improve system performance at a time when batteries, electric vehicles and solar power, all natively DC technologies, are becoming more widespread.

Most of Europe’s power networks were built around AC, which remains well suited to long-distance transmission. But integrating DC-heavy technologies typically requires multiple power conversions, adding cost and inefficiency. By combining both systems within a single framework, HYPERRIDE aims to limit those conversions and make it easier to connect distributed energy resources.

Project trials showed that hybrid configurations could improve operational efficiency and strengthen the grid’s response to disruptions. Advanced control and protection systems enabled faster stabilisation and more targeted fault management than in conventional designs, according to the researchers, helping to reduce the scale and duration of outages.

“This approach doesn’t just enhance reliability, it redefines cost-efficiency,” said one project engineer. “Hybrid systems offer a modular solution that strengthens the grid without tearing it down.”

That modularity could appeal to governments and utilities facing ageing infrastructure and rising electricity demand. Rather than replacing entire networks, hybrid systems allow incremental upgrades, enabling new renewable capacity to be added in dense urban or industrial areas where space is limited.

Regulatory and technical hurdles remain. Existing grid codes, certification regimes and equipment standards were largely written for pure AC systems and will need to adapt to support hybrid designs. European regulators are already reviewing lessons from the HYPERRIDE trials as they consider future network rules and investment priorities.

As utilities are pressed to improve resilience while meeting climate targets, hybrid AC/DC grids are increasingly viewed as a pragmatic bridge between current infrastructure and a more decarbonised energy system. The HYPERRIDE project suggests that hybridisation may move from pilot stage to a core element of Europe’s next generation of power networks.