The package of measures covering renewable energy, energy efficiency (for the building sector in particular), the redesign of the electricity market and governance of the Energy Union, to be unveiled by the Commission by the end of this year, may help to increase EU GDP by 1% between now and 2030, by injecting €190 billion into the economy and creating up to 900,000 new jobs, the commissioner for energy and the climate, Miguel Arias Cañete, announced on Monday 24 October, at an event in Brussels on the electricity market.
The Commission states in a press release published on the website of its DG Energy that the new draft directive on renewable energies to be tabled by the Commission is designed in such a way as to create the right conditions to achieve two green energy objectives: firstly, that green energy is the source of half of all electricity produced in Europe by 2030 and, secondly, that the electricity produced in 2050 is completely carbon-free.
Over the next ten years, the electricity market will be characterised by more varied and more decentralised energy production and will be driven by a technological revolution that will allow consumers to become active players on the market through 'response to demand', self-supply and storage, the Commission adds.
In parallel to these changes, the proposed new measures aim to promote online price comparison tools and allow consumers to change suppliers easily when they find a better option. They will also offer opportunities, with growing prospects for small- and medium-scale energy production and better management of electricity demand, which will help to bring costs down, the Commission concludes. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)