Strasbourg, 13/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - The member states “have considerable scope to improve the way they assess the need for and devise capacity mechanisms”, the European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, said on Wednesday 13 April, presenting an interim Commission report in the framework of the sectorial investigation launched in April 2015. The Commissioner is not ruling out the possibility of opening investigations into specific cases.
In April 2015, the Commission opened a State aid investigation into national measures to guarantee the availability at all times of a sufficient electricity production capacity to ensure reliable electricity supply ('capacity mechanisms') (see EUROPE 11305).
Over the past year, the European Commission has collected information from 120 market players and public bodies regarding these mechanisms in 12 member states (Germany, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Sweden). 28 capacity mechanisms were identified, the most common type being the strategic reserve, which allows the state to pay funds to certain power stations to become operational if required.
Vestager said that the three main conclusions of the report were as follows: currently, the market might not, on its own, be capable of ensuring adequate levels of security of supply in certain regions; many existing mechanisms were designed without a prior assessment of whether there was a security supply issue on the market in question. Nearly half of the member states analysed did not properly define their adequate security of supply level before setting a capacity mechanism in place; - many capacity mechanisms do not allow all potential capacity suppliers to participate, a situation which is likely to limit competition between suppliers to no purpose or increase the prices paid for the capacities.
If these fears are confirmed, these capacity mechanisms could distort competition and bring about increases in electricity prices by unduly favouring particular produces or types of technology, and they could generate obstacles to the cross-border trade in electricity, the Commission explains. It is now awaiting comments from the member states and stakeholders. Its final report is anticipated for the end of the year. (Original version in French by Elodie Lamer)