Following the publication by the European Commission of its ‘Competitiveness Compass’ on Wednesday 29 January (see EUROPE 13568/1), a number of players in the European energy sector, particularly in the field of renewable energy, welcomed the initiatives set out in the energy field and reiterated their priorities for ensuring a competitive energy transition.
According to Giles Dickson, CEO of WindEurope, the document is “spot on. It says we need to accelerate the clean energy transition and boost electrification. That energy intensive industries need flexible state aid rules to help them decarbonise”.
Affordable energy prices. At the top of the agenda, the Clean Industrial Deal will be unveiled in the first quarter of 2025, probably on 26 February, and will be accompanied by an action plan for affordable energy prices.
According to Arthur Daemers, Senior Policy Advisor at SolarPowerEurope, the plan must “help industry access it through Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and better market integration, but can also support them with the non-energy parts of their energy bills; grid fees and taxes”.
Electrification. In an initial version of the ‘Compass’, an action plan for electrification, included in the mission letter of the European Commissioner for Energy, Dan Jørgensen, was not on the Commission’s agenda of future priorities. It was eventually scheduled for the first quarter of 2026, reassuring the European electricity sector (see EUROPE 13568/31). It will be presented together with a legislative package for European grids.
Speaking at the event ‘Energy 2025: A vision for the Energy Future’, on 29 January, Mr Jørgensen reiterated that he would also be presenting a ‘Clean Energy Investment Plan’, the details of which “will come in due course”.
2040 climate target. The CEO of SolarPowerEurope, Walburga Hemetsberger, welcomed the reference in the ‘Compass’ to a 2040 climate target, saying that “decarbonisation goes hand-in-hand with Europe’s economic prosperity”.
The Commission’s document sets out its determination to “stay the course” towards carbon neutrality by 2050 “including through the intermediate 2040 target of 90%”. A proposal to revise the Climate Law is scheduled for 2025 to incorporate this intermediate target (see EUROPE 13559/10).
Energy taxation. The Commission also recognises that some of the cost elements of energy prices “are determined by inefficiencies in the design of network tariffs and taxation or a lack of energy market integration”.
Eurelectric’s Policy Director, Cillian O’Donoghue, is calling for “a revision of the current energy taxation rules which perversely tax electricity more than gas”.
CAN Europe, a coalition of environmental NGOs, regrets that the ‘Compass’ does not meet expectations in terms of phasing out all fossil fuels, “whether from Russia or elsewhere”, and fully utilising energy savings.
The roadmap for the phasing out of Russian fossil fuels is due to be unveiled in late March. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)