Brussels, 19/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - The electricity bill for households and companies is expected to rise for the next 15 years. This is the challenge that member states will have to tackle in an effort to make this rise acceptable, warned the European Commission at the informal Energy Council in Horsens (Denmark).
In its 2050 roadmap presented last December, the European Commission said that it expected most electricity prices to rise until 2030 before they begin to come down (see EUROPE 10517). This roadmap will be discussed by European energy ministers at the second session of the informal Energy Council in Horsens on 20 April. The Commission, however, underlines that electricity prices are lower in the scenario based on diversified technologies and in that of high energy efficiency. Nonetheless, the debate between member states that support or oppose nuclear energy, exacerbated since Germany's decision to abandon atomic energy for its electricity production in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster in Japan, is expected to become a slightly less important issue.
The 2050 energy roadmap highlights five options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector: an energy cluster including nuclear energy, supported by France and the United Kingdom; an energy cluster largely based on renewables, supported by Germany; a scenario involving a strong commitment on energy efficiency; an option promoting carbon capture and storage; and a situation in which a high proportion of nuclear energy is maintained due to delays in developing CCS technology. The Commission is arguing for binding targets on renewables and reaffirms the sovereignty of member states in the choice of the energy mixes they select.
The controversy between the states that support or oppose nuclear power has pitted France and the United Kingdom against Germany. Last week, this spat added to the rumour promoted by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung that a written request had been made by France, the United Kingdom, Poland and the Czech Republic calling on the EU to subsidise the development of nuclear energy, as it has done for renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power. This initiative has been denied by the different parties, such as the Commission and the Danish Presidency of the Council. EU Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger has expressed reservations about public funding for other sources of energy, such as nuclear power, and has also said that renewables are gradually expected to cease being funded by the public purse. (EH/transl.fl)