Energy companies and renewable energy associations urge Ministers to make Europe’s electricity market coherent with its climate commitments
Within the framework of the Make Power Clean campaign, they stressed the need to make Europe’s electricity market fully consistent with the EU’s climate strategy.
Ahead of an informal Energy Council taking place in Tallinn on 20 September, Make Power Clean members wrote to European energy ministers to stress the importance of delivering a consistent policy signal in the framework of the reform of the electricity market, with a view to making its design coherent with Europe’s climate commitments.
They support the Commission’s proposal for a 550g CO2/kWh carbon criterion in the Regulation on the Internal Market for Electricity. This would allow cleaner and more flexible options to be developed, rather than supporting the operation of the most polluting power plants.
The carbon criterion would also complement the Emission Trading System (ETS), the EU carbon market tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions cost-effectively. Europe’s emissions trading scheme puts a price on carbon, while the criterion prevents capacity mechanisms from rewarding the highest emitting plants.
During the meeting in Tallin, Commissioner Cañete reiterated his support for the 550g cap, insisting “capacity mechanisms will not be used as a backdoor subsidy of high-polluting fossil fuels”. Several MEPs, such as Claude Turmes (Luxembourg – Group of the Greens/EFA), also support this criterion.
Following an upcoming vote in the industry committee (ITRE) of the European Parliament, it will be up to the Member States to agree on a common position, ahead of trilateral negotiations between the Commission, Council and European Parliament.
Read the full letter here.
****The Make Power Clean campaign brings together companies and associations focused on ensuring that Europe’s future power market is consistent with the EU climate commitments and will provide cleaner energy for all. The main message is that only plants generating cleaner power should receive public support in the form of capacity mechanisms. EBA is a member of the initiative.****
More information about Make Power Clean here.
