EU leaders closed the bloc’s first energy summit on Friday with an agreement to accelerate plans for a Europe-wide supergrid that should provide a major boost to the continent’s renewable and nuclear energy industries.

Leaders gathered in Brussels released an accord signalling support for the creation of a supergrid that by some estimates could cost up to €1tn (£843bn).

“Major efforts are needed to modernise and expand Europe’s energy infrastructure,” the final accord states. “Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 to 95 per cent by 2050… will require a revolution in energy systems, which must start now.”

The agreement also sets out a goal of ensuring “no EU member state should remain isolated from the European gas and electricity networks after 2015 or see its energy security jeopardised by lack of the appropriate connections.”

The precise details of how to build the kind of transnational supergrid that private energy firms have been reluctant to develop without government backing are expected to be released later this year. However, early reports suggested €2.5bn from unspent EU budgets could be diverted to help finance the initial stages of the plan.

As well as calling for the creation of a financing mechanism for the supergrid, the accord also urges the European Commission to develop new standards for charging electric cars, accelerate the rollout of “smart” grids and deliver a new, sustainable biofuel strategy.

Energy policy has been forced up the EU’s agenda following the row last year between Russia and Europe that led to gas supplies being disrupted, and the crisis in Egypt that has this week forced oil prices above $100 (£62) a barrel.

Responding to the accord on Twitter this afternoon, EU president Herman Van Rompuy wrote: “Beyond the management of today’s crisis, we’re also laying the ground for a sustainable and job-creating growth.”

The proposals are likely to be broadly welcomed by the renewable energy sector, which has long maintained that the creation of a supergrid that allows energy to be transmitted across the continent from offshore wind farms in the North Sea and giant solar parks in the Mediterranean region is essential if renewable energy is to dominate the energy mix.

However, some environmentalists expressed opposition to the accord after France engineered a shift in terminology so that leaders called for the promotion of “safe and sustainable low-carbon technologies” – a reference to nuclear power. Similarly, Poland secured support for controversial shale gas exploration projects.