Europe’s electricity system is on the cusp of a deep revolution, driven by the imperative of decarbonisation and the move towards decentralised renewables energy production.
The European Commission is preparing to unveil its Winter Package, a series of eight legislative proposals aimed at providing “clean energy for all”.
The package is designed to put consumers at the heart of the energy market, allowing them to become electricity producers themselves.
But other deep reforms to the energy market are also being considered in order to adapt the electricity system to a more decentralised form of production, relying on small-scale renewable energies.
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Winter package leaves doubts hanging over Europe’s energy future
The European Commission's winter package is an awkward attempt at blending diverging national energy strategies and satisfy the advocates of coal, nuclear and renewables. EURACTIV France reports.
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European power grid on cusp of storage revolution
An electricity market revamp could see battery storage go mainstream. But questions remain over who will put the infrastructure in place.
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Lawmakers eye excluding coal from EU energy transition funds
Provisions in the EU’s carbon market designed to help poorer countries move to low carbon energy are being abused to subsidise fossil fuels and need to be dropped, 31 organisations and networks campaigning to end coal have said.
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EU throws in the towel over national energy support schemes
EU member states have pressed ahead with a variety of schemes to remunerate energy generators for keeping power plants on stand-by, despite warnings from Brussels. It now seems certain that such "capacity mechanisms" will remain a fact of life, at least for the foreseeable future.
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Analyst: ‘Member states can strong-arm Brussels on energy policy’
From nuclear plants in the UK and Hungary to coal-fired power stations in Germany, member states always manage to forge ahead with their energy projects, according to Georg Zachmann, who calls on EU leaders to sit down and seriously discuss the Energy Union’s governance.
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Eurelectric boss: ‘Orchestrated’ power markets must end
If European Union leaders don’t believe markets can work, then there’s no point having a carbon price to encourage renewable energies. And the energy market will always be “orchestrated” by national governments keeping fossil fuels subsidised, says Hans Ten Berge.
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A successful Energy Union can sell benefits of EU to the masses
Policymakers from the member states have praised the European Commission's Energy Union initiative. But this unanimous assent has raised eyebrows at a time when the idea of the EU itself is under attack, writes Dr Nikolas Wölfing.
