A few days before the European Commission presents its Action Plan on Electrification on 17 July, Agence Europe asked European industry experts what they see as the barriers to, and enablers of, electrification in the European Union.
Overview. In 2023, Europe’s energy mix consisted of 33% oil, 24% gas, 11% coal, 11% nuclear and almost 11% biofuels, according to the IEA.
Electricity’s share in final consumption in 2023 reached 22%, of which 35% for industry, 30% for households, almost 30% for public services and trade, and around 3% for transport.
There are significant disparities between Member States, making it difficult to draw up a single electrification target, as planned by the Commission.
Italy, France and Poland: different difficulties. Antonio Cammisecra, CEO of ContourGlobal and member of the Italian think tank Energy Square, explains that electricity has a far more attractive energy efficiency (more than 90%) than fossil fuels or gas, which lose almost three quarters of their energy as heat. Even so, Italy had an electrification rate of 22% in 2023, according to the IEA, with gas and oil accounting for more than 68%.
France had an electrification rate of 25% in 2023, with gas and oil accounting for 61%, according to the IEA. Anne-Cécile Marie, Commercial Director of the French low-carbon iron company Gravithy, says France’s strong position on electrification is mainly due to its investments in nuclear energy. “It is obvious that we could not do without nuclear power” (which accounts for almost 70% of the electricity produced), she says.
Monika Morawiecka, energy lead at Regulatory Assistance Project, believes that, although electrification in Poland is not progressing as quickly as in other Member States (15.8% in 2023, with 10% coal and 55% oil and gas), it would be possible for this Member State, one of Europe’s most industrialised, “to electrify immediately 60% of the heat produced by industrial processes”, since the technology already exists.
This view is shared by the lobby group Eurelectric, which believes that the electrification of ‘light and medium’ industries – battery production, for example – could be achieved by 2030 if the conditions are right, which implies both political impetus and a profitability requirement. (Original version in French by Nadège Delépine)