Eight Member States (Lithuania, Austria, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Poland and Spain) asked the European Commission to recognise wind and solar power and energy storage technologies as strategic European value chains on Wednesday 6 May in a joint letter to Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson and Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton.
In concrete terms, these countries recommend including solar and wind energy in the work of the Strategic Forum on Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) and to “study the feasibility to launch relevant IPCEIs in these sectors”.
“Maintaining and strengthening renewable energy value chains within Europe is the most direct way to achieve EU climate goals and technological sovereignty while boosting the EU’s economy in the post-Covid recovery”, Lithuanian Energy Minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas told EUROPE.
The signatories of the letter furthermore call on the Commission to launch in priority the new Renewable Energy Industry Alliance”.
In their view, the renewable energy industry and energy storage technologies should also be given dedicated access to EU capital and instruments such as the Connecting European Facility (CEF), InvestEU, green bonds, Innovation and Modernization Funds, the Just Transition Fund, as well as to the upcoming post-Covid-19 economic recovery instruments.
Finally, the countries previously mentioned are asking the Commission to adapt the regulatory framework for State aid “ to encourage public support in these strategic value chains”.
To read the letter: https://bit.ly/2YBsbvf (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)