The European employers’ association of electricity companies, Eurelectric, has called on the Twenty-seven to reinforce with “urgent action” the commitment to the ambitious decarbonisation objectives that the European Union has set for 2030, with an electricity market without a price cap, with more flexible rules that allow liquidity and at least double investment until 2040, which, in the case of distribution, calls for it to triple to 69,000 million euros per year until 2050.
This has been requested this Monday in Valladolid, where a delegation from the European electricity employers’ association, which includes companies such as Iberdrola, Enel, Endesa, E.ON, EDP or Engie, has traveled for meetings with the Energy Commissioner of the European Union, Kadri Simson, and with the third vice president of the Government and minister for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, who chairs the informal Council of EU environment and energy ministers, under the presidency of Spain.
The electric companies considering that Europe must “establish here and now” the necessary conditions for a “radical increase” in electrification that serves to accelerate decarbonization and guarantee energy sovereignty to prevent the continent and its energy sovereignty from being “in danger” . “Our industrial sector requires realistic and ambitious measures between now and 2040,” claims the employer.
Decarbonization, a “multifactorial” challenge
In his opinion, the reform of the market – which is stuck due to the lack of consensus among the EU countries – is “especially key” because it is necessary to double the levels of investment both in generation and in networks by 2040. The electricity employers believe that decarbonisation is a “multifactorial challenge” since the key is to strengthen the electricity networks, rethink Europe’s security of supply and guarantee the appropriate framework through a “well-balanced” market reform that encourages adequate investments. adas”.
For the electricity market reform to be a success, Euroeléctric calls for improving long-term contracting and hedging instruments -PPAs, voluntary CfDs, capacity mechanisms and improved forward markets- to provide long-term visibility to investors and pros. Protect consumers from price volatility, according to Europa Press.
In addition, they demand to avoid the expansion of emergency measures and price caps because considering that they have reduced investor confidence and have failed to generate the expected income to the point of becoming a very detrimental circumstance for the internal market of the EU due to irregular national application.
In this regard, they recall that what saved Europe from a possible blackout last winter was precisely the internal market; market that allowed Member States to import electricity at a very stressed time. Also, call for ensuring marketer resilience with financial stress tests rather than using mandatory hedging strategies that hurt competition and affordability for customers.
Encourage network investments
Likewise, instantly incentivize investments in the grid by allowing them early, as Europe’s infrastructure will handle more complex flows due to massive amounts of renewables, heat pumps and electric vehicles. In this sense, a level of distribution, they ask to triple the investment to pass, at least, from the Twenty-seven, they establish more flexible financial rules that allow the liquidity of market participants.
