Guidelines for future energy policy in Europe

Twelve European energy experts are presenting a joint key issues paper in Brussels today, which states policy principles for a post-2020 perspective of renewable energies. The goal of the concept developed with the involvement of Oeko-Institut is to specify the key issues which are essential for the quick further expansion of renewable energies. They apply regardless of the short-term political controversy about different support schemes for renewable energies in Europe and the need for their alignment.

“We have identified a series of guidelines which will be of great importance for future energy policy in Europe if there is to be a further ambitious increase of renewable energies beyond the expansion currently limited to the period up to 2020,” says Christof Timpe, Head of Energy & Climate Division at Oeko-Institut. “These guidelines can be followed by all countries irrespective of what concrete support instrument they use.”

The key principles suggest, for example, that:

Financing strategies for renewable energies have to be geared to ambitious renewable energy targets and designed in such a way that these targets can actually be met. For this to happen, the current promotion of renewables would have to be integrated in the necessary new design of European electricity markets in the medium term. Within this scope a broad range of technologies should be developed and not only the cheapest option in each case.

At the same time the relevant schemes and policies should provide locational signals for the suitable geographical distribution of plants from the perspective of the overall power supply system, which should also improve the cost-benefit ratio of renewable energies.

Future support strategies have to provide investors with a suitably long time frame in which they can recoup their investments in renewable power plants while undesired developments such as a temporary overloading or an overheating of some of the markets should be promptly corrected.

Authors of the guidelines

Raffaele Piria (Publisher), Smart Energy for Europe Platform
Arturo Lorenzoni, University of Padova/IEFE‐Bocconi University 
Catherine Mitchell, University of Exeter 
Christof Timpe, Öko-Institut 
Corinna Klessmann, Ecofys 
Gustav Resch, Energy Economics Group TU Vienna 
Helmuth Groscurth, Arrhenius Institute 
Karsten Neuhoff, German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) 
Mario Ragwitz, Fraunhofer ISI 
Pablo del Río Gonzalez, Institute of Public and Policies at CSIC 
Richard Cowart, The Regulatory Assistance Project 
Uwe Leprich, Institute for Future Energy Systems (IZES)

Further information

The project website, which includes all 14 policy principles for ensuring renewable electricity invest-ments, can be accessed here: www.remunerating-res.eu.

Contact at Oeko-Institut

Christof Timpe 
Head of Energy & Climate Division 
Oeko-Institut e.V, Freiburg Head Office 
Phone:++49-761/45295-233 
Email