[PDF]Renewable electricity in Europe. Current state, drivers

2007

Energy Policy, 2008

The European Union has adopted targets for the expanded use of renewable energies (REs) as one mean to achieve improved energy security, reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and improved competitiveness of the European economies. Realising that rapid expansion of RE will not happen in the energy market place, as it now exists, various support mechanisms are under consideration, most prominently these may be grouped into two major categories, tradable green certificates (TGC) and feed-in tariffs (FiT). Experiences from a number of countries in Europe suggest that FiT deliver larger and faster penetration of RE than TGC, at lower cost.

European Union adapted the policy of reducing its carbon footprint and embarked on the journey to shift to renewable energy sources in the early 1990s. The whole process started with implementations of binding rules that set up indicative targets for the EU Member States. However, this process had to go hand in hand with high energy costs charged to the consumers. This paper defines various types of renewable sources in the EU and analyses European legislation on renewable energy sources. In addition, it deals with the current situation regarding the energy policies in the European Union and outlines its main criticisms and prospects. The results and conclusions might be of some value for EU main energy providers as well as for the EU partners in the world.

Annals of Industrial Engineering 2012, 2013

The European energy sector is undergoing a major transformation and is facing a series of difficult challenges. These include a high and increasing dependence on external energy resources; dramatically reduce the need for the emissions of greenhouse gases to meet environmental objectives and the difficulties related to the promotion of energy market effectively integrated and competitive. Some of the policies associated with the various objectives are sometimes in conflict with each other, while in other cases are mutually reinforcing.The aim of this paper is to do a scienti c analysis of the developments so far and the expectations for the coming period focusing on the pillars of energy policy in the EU in terms of security of supply, environment, climate change and promoting a competitive and integrated market. The use of renewable energy sources is seen as a key element of European energy policy and should help to: reduce dependence on fuel from non-member countries; reduce emissions from carbon-based energy sources, and; decouple energy costs from oil prices.

Energy Policy, 2017

The aim of this paper is to assess several pathways of a harmonised European policy framework for supporting renewable electricity (RES-E) in a 2030 horizon according to different criteria. The pathways combine two main dimensions: degrees of harmonisation and instruments and design elements. A quantitative model-based analysis with the Green-X model is provided. The results of the simulations show that there are small differences between the evaluated cases regarding effectiveness. All the policy pathways score similarly with respect to RES-E deployment, i.e., with different degrees of harmonisation and whether using a feed-in tariff, a feed-in premium, a quota system with banding or a quota without banding scheme. In contrast, the policy costs clearly differ across the pathways, but the differences can mostly be attributed to the instruments rather than to the degrees of harmonisation. This is also the case with other criteria (static and dynamic efficiency and the socioeconomic and environmental benefits in terms of CO2 emissions and fossil fuels avoided). Both the degree of harmonisation and the choice of instrument influence the distribution of support costs across countries. Finally, our findings suggest that keeping strengthened national support leads to similar results to other policy pathways.

Annals - Economy Series, 2015

The states from European Union must take advantage from renewable energy sources in order to revive the economy. Climate change creates new jobs and could reduce energy imports which would stimulate the economy of those states. The European Union should support research in the field, apply more efficient policies in energy, and create economies of scale to get an integrated European energy market in which the main actors can reduce the cost of production of renewable energy. In addition, it is possible to use the comparative advantages of the Member States and not only, like Greece, through solar energy, Southern Mediterranean, through distribution networks interconnections with EU, Russia and Ukraine, through biomass and the North Sea, through wind energy. This paper refers to the evolution and trends of the renewable energy sources and presents some scenarios of it.

2016

Energy & Environment, 2016

This article presents the outcomes of an assessment of expected costs and benefits of future renewable energy use in the European Union by 2020 and beyond. A binding European Union-wide renewable energy systems target of achieving at least 27% renewable energy systems share in gross final energy demand by 2030 was adopted by the Council of the European Union in October 2014. This has to be seen as an important first step in defining the framework for renewable energy systems post-2020. Other steps, like a clear concept for and an agreement on the effort sharing across Member States have to follow. For doing so, clarity on associated costs and benefits of the future renewable energy systems expansion across European Union Member States appears highly beneficial. The aim of this article is to contribute to the renewable energy systems policy debate, providing an indication of costs and benefits resulting from increased renewable energy systems deployment within the European Union in t...