EU Energy Policy Blog

Grids are already developing offshore, and this development will continue even though at what pace and how they will develop is still uncertain. Indeed, there are different possible configurations for a future offshore grid: it can be a simple multiplication of standalone lines that provide each a single service (either connection of generation, or connection between transmission grids); or it can be a more integrated infrastructure like an offshore meshed grid that combines and interconnects dozens of offshore lines and generation units (hereafter combined solution). Continue reading »

Could Fukushima put an end to the French exception? Everybody in France is now talking about, and arguing for or against, a prospective nuclear phase-out. Political Candidates running for the next presidency defend their affirmative or negative position on this issue with figures published in several recent studies assessing the investment costs of an eventual a potential phase-out, as opposed to a continuation of the current power generation model. Unsurprisingly, the numbers differ. Why?

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s forecasts can be used as a pre-fukushima baseline scenario. They use the year 2035 as their terminal year. This is unfortunate and potentially misleading. Many existing nuclear plants (essentially all existing U.S. plants) will retire within a few years after 2035, even if they are able to secure 20-year license extensions. This means that sustaining nuclear’s share of total electricity generation, would require substantial construction of new nuclear plants well before midcentury both to meet growing electricity demand and to replace retiring units. Continue reading »

There is little disagreement that, with a few exceptions, renewable energy technologies tend to be more expensive than conventional options, especially considering their intermittent and unpredictable nature, which often requires backup generation or storage. Their main selling point is that they are non- or significantly less polluting. Renewables gain comparative advantage if a price were put on greenhouse gas emissions. This has always been among the main arguments for providing subsidies and encouraging their growth.
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The European Union is wracked by sovereign debt, budget deficits, monetary weakness, slow economic growth, trade deficits with the Emerging economies, an ageing population, and mass unemployment – but it has the supposedly proud role of world leader in Green Energy Transition. The main goal of this is reducing dependence on fossil fuels and increasing dependence on new, renewable, unconventional, alternate and “low carbon green” energy sources and systems, and improving energy efficiency, conserving energy and rationalising the energy economy.
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The European Union is engaged in a process of market inte- gration over a long period. Cross-border energy infrastructure investments should play a key role in reaching this objective. However, cross-border investment projects having a European interest are currently undertaken only country by country with an insufficient cooperation between actors involved in such a project. Beside the lack of cooperation, the asymmetries of cost allocation and of benefit distribution of cross-border infrastructure plus the presence of economic externalities have lead to a suboptimal situation at the EU level. Continue reading »

In the current context, where public budgets are overstretched due to the economic crisis, there is a pressing need to understand the fiscal implications of climate policies. Decarbonization will impact both sides of a country’s budget via changes in the tax levels and composition of taxes on the one hand, as well as transfer payments and direct investments on the other. Climate policies increasing public revenues could help to reduce state debt, while policies significantly increasing public expenses could be difficult to implement.
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On 22 June 2011, a proposal for increased Energy Efficiency was presented by the European Commission. The energy efficiency directive was intensely negotiated and faced strong internal opposition from a number of players. DG Climate officials have shared their concerns with the public.
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The discussion on a target model for European gas network access has been going on for a while now,officially starting with the conclusion of the 18th Madrid Forum in 2010 which invited ““the Commission and the regulators to explore, in close cooperation with system operators and other stakeholders, the interaction and interdependence of all relevant areas for network codes and to initiate a process establishing a gas market target model””.
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A few years ago I had the good fortune to participate in a European Commission sixth Framework Programme project Coordinating Energy Security in Supply Activities or ‘CESSA’ for short. This project culminated in a book published by Routledge in 2010 entitled: Security of Energy Supply in Europe: Natural Gas, Nuclear, and Hydrogen. I was very pleased to be an editor of that book and to be the author of chapter 8 entitled: Nuclear Energy in the Enlarged European Union. Continue reading »