The EU must urgently cut its dependence on fossil fuels, having paid an additional bill of €50 billion for its energy imports since the start of the war in Iran.
To do so, it will have to almost double its current electrification rate – which has stagnated at 23% for 10 years – with an indicative electrification target of 46% by 2040 (the share of electricity in final energy consumption).
To achieve this, it will, among other things, be necessary to increase the number of electric cars, in particular by encouraging social leasing schemes, promote switching from boilers to heat pumps and ensure that, by 2030, half of European final consumers are equipped with smart meters, the European Commission explained on Friday 17 July. Energy storage will also need to be further improved.
In another proposed action on grids (see EUROPE 13912/7), the Commission also recommends changing the taxation of electricity, which is penalised compared with gas, and optimising the use of existing grid infrastructure.
According to Dan Jørgensen, the European Commissioner for Energy, it is now necessary to “stop financing our dependence with European taxpayers’ money”, and the EU can already rely on the clean technologies that are available today.
Because, with more than eight million battery electric vehicles on EU roads, 28 million heat pumps in EU buildings and a growing number of large-scale heat pumps in district heating systems, the Commission says, “the transition is already under way”.
The benefits of greater electrification in the EU are numerous. While around 70% of EU electricity already comes from domestic clean sources, an accelerated energy transition focused on electrification could reduce gas imports by more than 70% and crude oil imports by more than 40% by 2040.
In this way, the EU could save up to €260 billion per year by 2040 on its fossil fuel import bill. Electrification would also make it possible to reduce electricity generation costs by around 20%, which would result in more affordable tariffs and encourage the switch to electrical appliances. Just as it “would also accelerate achieving the Union’s decarbonisation objective by substantially cutting emissions by more than 2,000 Mt CO2 in 2040 compared to today”.
Efforts needed on storage. To this end, energy storage is an essential component in optimising the operation of the EU energy system, says the Commission, notably long-duration energy storage, providing energy for more than eight hours. The tripartite agreement on energy storage recently brought together key players and the commitments made for the 2026-2028 period represent stationary storage capacity of 30 to 35 GW.
But “further efforts will be needed to meet the energy system’s flexibility and energy storage needs by 2030” (200 GW and 500 GW installed by 2040, from around 55 GW in 2026).
The Commission will therefore propose, among other things, in 2026, a new network code and the revision of the network codes on requirements for generators and demand connection. It will “assess and promote the introduction of smart charging by default in electricity supply contracts linked to EVs by mid-2027”.
Nuclear and reactor lifetime extensions. To further promote “cheap” energy, the Commission will support “cross border cooperation amongst national authorities in the interest of faster nuclear reactor licensing decisions. In full respect of Member States’ prerogative to determine their own energy mix, lifetime extension of existing reactors should be pursued unless uneconomical or incompatible with highest safety standards”.
For industry, it will also examine the possibility of setting up an EU-level mechanism to pool industrial electricity demand. It will also seek to facilitate cluster-based partnerships for electrification and the reuse of residual heat from industrial sites.
Link to the action plan: https://aeur.eu/f/my0 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)