European policymakers push for more cross-border power trading
More cross-border intra-day power trading is needed between EU countries to help ensure secure, affordable supplies as renewable electricity output soars across the bloc, European policymakers said on Wednesday.
The European Commission launched its electricity market design discussion paper as a part of its push for a single energy market across the European Union. It is seeking a radical overhaul to incorporate increased volumes of supplies from intermittent wind and solar-powered generation.
“For the efficient integration of renewables into the grid, generators, suppliers and traders need to be able to trade electricity as close to real time as possible,” it said.
Day-ahead trading of capacity on interconnectors between some western European countries has been working successfully for a number of years, but the Commission wants this to be expanded across the bloc.
It is a system whereby traders bid for capacity on the day before delivery, ensuring available capacity is used efficiently at the fairest price.
The share of electricity produced by renewables will grow from 25 per cent today to 50 per cent in 2030, the Commission said.
It also said that more European integration was needed for renewables subsidy schemes. Currently member states have their own various support schemes to encourage new renewable investment such as the contract-for-difference scheme in Britain and Germany’s Renewable Energy Act which specifies that renewable power has priority on the grid.
“Considerable efficiency gains could be made by converging renewables support scheme across borders, particularly through enhanced regional cooperation,” the Commission said, without elaborating.
After a public consultation on the proposals the Commission said it would prepare draft laws in the second half of 2016 which could include amendments to current legislations such as the Renewables Directive and the Energy Efficiency Directive.
The Commission also proposed new rules for labels on electrical appliances which show how much energy they use, to make them easier to understand.
EU nations use a system of letters as well as plus symbols to guide consumers when they buy products such as fridges or washing machines. An A label with three pluses is placed on appliances that use the least energy.
The Commission said it would abandon the plus signs and instead adopt a classification using letters from A to G in seven different colours to show consumption of energy, with A being the most efficient and G the least.
It also said a digital database should be developed for all new products put on the market to allow greater transparency and easier market surveillance by national authorities.
