ENERGY
POLICY REGIONS
WILL BENEFIT
EUROPE’S INTERNAL
ELECTRICITY MARKET
AND ITS CONSUMERS
KONSTANTIN STASCHUS
Secretary-General MICHAEL MIESZCZANSKI
Senior Advisor
Corporate Affairs
In February 2015 the European
Commission adopted a ‘Framework
Strategy for a Resilient Energy Union’
creating new momentum to bring
about the transition to a low-carbon,
secure and competitive economy.
One important element of this strategy
are regions: It considers a range of
energy policy instruments that can
be employed beyond the national,
at a regional level. Important examples
where regional coordination is important
to avoid market distortions include subsidies for renewables, security
of electricity supply (i.e. capacity
mechanisms), interconnection targets,
system adequacy assessments and
mutual support during simultaneous
scarcities. Regions are thus a stepping-
stone for the construction of the
Internal Electricity Market, where
national energy mix decisions and
regional coordination on the above
topics complement the well-advanced
Europe-wide day-ahead and intraday
electricity markets.
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By 2030 almost 50% of Europe’s
electricity will be generated from
renewable energy sources. The
continued rise of variable electricity
generation needs to be well managed
so that it does not challenge secure
system operation and cost efficiency.
We need to bear in mind that Europe’s
power system is interconnected beyond
national borders. On one hand, this
allows us to create the world’s largest
common electricity market to the
benefit of all consumers. On the