European Electricity Trade Group Back Revolutionary Changes
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Europe’s electricity industry union, Eurelectic, has published a sweeping manifesto outlining a number of changes and policy shifts they believe are necessary to transition to a decarbonised economy and decentralised power generation system.
Writing on their website, Eurelectric have made it abundantly clear that they are backing a shift to a greener world of electricity generation. “The European power sector says yes to an intelligent transformation of the energy system,” they write, describing such a system as “one that makes it cleaner, smarter and more sustainable.”
The change to such a system requires a massive investment — the IEA suggesting that €1 trillion by 2020 is necessary to make it happen. However, as Eurelectric note, that “transition is not happening smoothly” causing prices for households and for small and medium businesses to sky-rocket. Subsequently, the value of the electrical companies is deteriorating, “political and regulatory uncertainty is high and security of supply is at stake.”
“Action is needed and it is needed now.”
Eurelectric created a series of aims they think are vital to moving forward: Pursue decarbonisation: opt for a minimum 40% GHG reduction target by 2030 and reform the ETS by increasing the annual linear reduction factor in the region of 2.3% before 2020; Revisit our market environment: restrict market intervention to limit uncontrolled costs and threats for security of supply; and Empower our customers and keep bills in check.
The most impressive and easy to understand are the goals they believe are necessary to reach decarbonisation:
- Adopt an economy-wide, binding 2030 greenhouse gas reduction target of at least 40% compared to 1990.
- Strengthen the EU Emissions Trading Scheme: increase the annual linear reduction factor in the region of 2.3% before 2020 and make the EU-ETS auctioning more robust.
- Extend the ETS to other CO2 emitting sectors of the economy after 2020.
- Promote the use of electricity in transport, heating and cooling, e.g. by reviewing the conversion factor used in the Energy Efficiency Directive, which today penalises the use of low-carbon electricity compared to other energy sources.
“Energy is a major EU economic policy,” noted Eurelectric Secretary General Hans ten Berge. “It fuels growth in living standards and is the backbone of a healthy economy. Policymakers must take greater care to avoid policy-induced inefficiencies and market distortions that are unnecessarily pushing up the costs of providing electricity and raising the bills for Europe’s customers.”
“National regulatory initiatives without consideration for their impact on other member states cannot remain the rule. Only a true European approach can ensure renewed investment in the future – to the benefit of European businesses and households alike.”
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