The identified potential energy savings and CO2 emissions reduction from cogeneration is still untapped due to the low implementation at national level of EU legislation on energy efficiency, stresses the European cogeneration association, COGEN Europe, on the strength of its stock-take of the sector, published on Tuesday 12 June.
To support the growth of the sector, COGEN Europe stresses that the principle of 'energy efficiency first' must be central to the legislative package on clean energy currently being negotiated.
According to its survey, which covers 21 countries of the EU plus Turkey and illustrates trends in 94% of the cogeneration capacity in Europe, small-scale cogeneration and renewable cogeneration are the sub-sectors that have seen the fastest growth, while cogeneration in key sectors such as urban heating and industry has grown more slowly.
In all, cogeneration provides 11% of the electricity and 15% of the heat produced in the EU, or nearly 15% of the EU's energy efficiency target up to 2020 more than 20% of the CO2 reduction target. According to the CODE2 observatory, this could double over 30 years.
The existing cogeneration capacity may, however, be reduced if the political framework at national level fails to recognise the benefits of cogeneration for consumers and industry, COGEN Europe warns, stressing the negative impact of fragmented national policies that are hard for the cogeneration markets in Europe to predict.
In most countries, the implementation of the provisions on cogeneration in the 2012 directive on energy efficiency varies greatly and is unambitious in EU countries representing more than 70% of cogeneration infrastructure, which is eroding investor confidence, the association warns.
Given its strategic role for the energy sector and the European economy, cogeneration should be higher up on the agenda of the talks on the revised directive on energy efficiency and renewables and the regulation on governance, COGEN Europe stresses, calling for the sector to be included in the national 'energy/climate' plans and for the principles of stability of regimes to support renewables to be extended to cogeneration schemes. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)