Europe - An internal energy market by 2014?

“If Europe is serious about decarbonising the power sector in a
cost-effective manner, it has to create a market that facilitates this
transformation. EWEA’s new report sets out how a single market in
electricity could simultaneously create benefits for all producers and
consumers and integrate renewable energy sources.”


A new report released today by the European Wind Energy Association
argues that EU electricity market rules must reflect the energy
generation mix of the future and help usher in a flexible power system
with a large-scale uptake of wind power and other renewable energy sources.

The report comes as the Single European Act – creating a single market
in goods, capital, people and services – turns 25, and yet there is
still no single market in electricity. EU Heads of State have agreed
that Europe should have an internal energy market by 2014, but the EU is
not on track to meet that target.

To this end, the report recommends:

. Creating a level playing field for renewable energy sources by
tackling structural market deficits such as:

- Removing regulated prices and excessive market concentration to enable
small-and medium-sized power generators to enter the market

- Removing coal, gas and nuclear subsidies before they are removed from
mature renewable technologies like onshore wind

. Creating functioning markets covering larger geographical regions
within Europe so as to reduce the need to balance variable renewables
like wind and solar

. Developing intraday and balancing markets at national(1) and
cross-border levels

. Creating new markets for ‘grid support services,’ supporting the
functioning of the grid to ensure a secure supply of electricity,
instead of introducing market-distorting capacity payments.

This October the European Commission is set to publish a Communication
on the internal energy market which is expected to contain an action
plan to take Europe closer to a single energy market.

Read the full report, ‘Creating the Internal Energy Market in Europe.’
Under
http://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/ewea_documents/documents/publications/reports/Internal_energy_market.pdf

(1) 14 EU Member States still have no intraday market, and the volume of
electricity traded in those intraday markets is still well under 1% of
electricity consumption.