The prospect of building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany is dividing the EU into two camps. By following geopolitical considerations, both sides are neglecting the concept of a liberalized natural gas market and are overlooking Europe’s favorable position in current international gas trade, writes Severin Fischer, Senior Researcher in the Global Security Team at the Center for Security Studies (CCS), ETH ZĂĽrich. … [Read more...]
The fight over the EU’s nuclear ambitions – and what it means for European energy research
A leaked “strategy paper” in the German media has thrown  up fresh questions over what Europe intends to spend its innovation budget on. In the paper the European Commission and member states set out broad goals for the nuclear industry, including developing small modular reactors. Nuclear opponents reacted furiously. In her new Brussels Insider column, for the Energy Post Weekly premium newsletter, Sonja van Renssen investigates the fight over … [Read more...]
European researchers: include consumers in the EU Emission Trading Scheme
The EU Emission Trading Scheme should not only be applied to industrial producers of CO2, but also to their consumers, proposes Karsten Neuhoff, Head of the Climate Policy Department at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin). This would provide sufficient incentives to all market players to reduce their emissions and would do a lot to clarify the structure of free allowance allocation, providing long-term certainty for … [Read more...]
Time for Europe to stop supporting Ukraine’s risky nuclear power sector
Three decades after Chernobyl, nuclear power remains a mainstay of Ukrainian energy supply, writes Iryna Holovko, campaigner of NGO CEE Bankwatch Network in Ukraine. Despite persistent safety problems, the Ukrainian government has approved lifetime extensions for four of its 15 nuclear units since 2010, and two more could be greenlighted later this year. What is more, Holovko adds, Ukraine’s nuclear sector survives in part thanks to European … [Read more...]
Capacity mechanisms: DG Competition and DG Energy clash over future of EU energy market
EU member states are setting up capacity mechanisms that may be unnecessary, expensive and badly designed. This is the conclusion of the European Commission's Competition Directorate in the interim report of its first ever “sector enquiry” into capacity mechanisms as a form of state aid for electricity producers. But the report shows that DG Competition has a different view than DG Energy about the future of the EU's energy market design, writes … [Read more...]
To end windfall profits EU should limit free allocation of CO2 allowances to industry
EU member states intend to continue giving European manufacturers free CO2 allowances, even though this will hand them windfall profits, and will not motivate them to reduce CO2 emissions, writes Emil Dimantchev,  senior carbon market analyst at Thomson Reuters. Dimantchev calls on the European Commission to start a discussion with stakeholders and lawmakers from the European Parliament and member states to find a compromise ensuring that … [Read more...]
EPH’s takeover of Vattenfall’s lignite assets should ring alarm bells in Berlin and Stockholm
By taking over the German lignite assets of Vattenfall, Czech utility EPH shows it believes in the future of lignite in Germany. This raises questions for the German government about its climate policies - and for the Swedish government which has to decide on the deal, writes Julian Schwartzkopff, researcher at energy and climate think tank E3G. … [Read more...]
Why EU renewable energy figures are misleading: Europe requires 150% renewable energy to become fossil-free
The EU is confident it will reach its target of 20% renewable energy by 2020. But according to Martien Visser, professor at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen (The Netherlands), this 20% is in reality more like 14%. This is because a large part of our energy consumption is simply ignored in the calculations for renewable energy. “Even with 100% renewables, we would still need a lot of fossil fuels”, Visser notes. … [Read more...]
Post-Paris: if the EU can’t be climate leader at home, it could lead by helping others
Although the Paris Agreement was a diplomatic success for the European Union, the EU’s own climate policy is looking increasingly unambitious, write Susanne Dröge and Oliver Geden of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin. According to the authors this is the result of internal differences which are unlikely to be resolved soon. They suggest that if the EU wants to maintain its international leadership in the … [Read more...]
If Europe wants integrated markets, it should take the leap to regional grids
Europe is progressing towards an integrated, interconnected pan-European electricity market. However, writes Philip Baker of the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), the governance and regulatory arrangements that the EU has established to support this process are inadequate to the task. They are more focused on preserving the sovereignty of national TSO and regulators than addressing the wider interests of the market. According to Baker, the EU … [Read more...]
Europe needs “coalition of the willing” to rescue its global leadership in the fight against climate change
The EU, plagued by internal differences, is on the verge of losing its long-standing leadership in climate change policy, write Bill Hare and Andrzej Ancygier of climate science and policy institute Climate Analytics. If the European Commission is unable to forge a consensus on an ambitious climate policy, argue Hare and Ancygier, a smaller “coalition of the willing” should take up the climate banner. But there should be no free ride for laggards … [Read more...]
EU expects large nuclear new-build programme despite escalating costs
The European Commission estimates that nearly three quarters of a trillion Euros will need to be spent on nuclear power over the next decades to enable it to maintain a market share of about one-fifth of the EU electricity mix in 2050. At the same time it notes that the cost of building new nuclear plants has risen 50% in the last decade. Critics say the Commission is too optimistic and has not analysed what the advent of renewables and changing … [Read more...]
Can Nord Stream 2 be stopped?
Nord Stream 2, the controversial Russian-German pipeline project, is generating fierce opposition in Central and Eastern Europe as well as from the European Parliament and the European Commission. But could the opponents of the pipeline, owned 50% by Gazprom and 50% by some of the largest Western European companies, stop the project? They may be able to follow a complex legal route that could place formidable obstacles in the way of the pipeline. … [Read more...]
Understanding the UK’s capacity market
According to a new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) the UK’s government capacity market is not working. With a consultation from the UK Department of Energy and Climage Change (DECC) just finished, Byron Orme, research fellow in energy, transport and climate policy at IPRR explains what the capacity market was supposed to achieve, where it has gone wrong and how it could be fixed. Courtesy of Carbon Brief. … [Read more...]
Injecting energy into the agenda of trade negotiators
Barriers to trade and investment in energy goods and services, long neglected, are starting to  be addressed by trade negotiators in the World Trade Organisation and outside of it. The process of integrating the energy dimension to trade policy is however still in its infancy. An upcoming report from the World Energy Council aims to offer trade officials a policy agenda. Iana Dreyer, editor of Borderlex.eu, a newsletter specialised in EU trade … [Read more...]
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