by Brianna Crandall — March 27, 2013—The need for a more integrated system at the European Union (EU) level for promoting renewables, the issue of adopting new targets for the period after 2020, and possible solutions that could help boost investments were all highlighted in the non-binding resolution on renewable energy that was adopted March 19 by the European Parliament Committee for Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE).
“The report gives a realistic overview about the challenges ahead for renewable energies, but also the opportunities they bring. We all expect the share of renewables to grow, but we will only be able to accommodate such growth if the required infrastructures are in place. Intermittent renewables need not only flexible back-up and energy storage, but also a modernization of the existing grid-infrastructure. That is quite expensive, so we should do everything we can to bring costs of renewables down. Our current arrangement with a wide variety of different support mechanisms is certainly not ideal, especially with regard to the internal energy market. In the future we should find a more European approach. The enormous potentials of the different Member States have to be used!” said the rapporteur Herbert Reul (EPP, DE).
As a result of disparities between national market features, different potentials, and different stages of technology patterns and maturity, a wide variety of programs for promoting renewables currently coexist in the EU, says the text. This variety creates problems such as inefficiencies in cross-border electricity trading. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) stress that a more integrated system at the EU level could help to provide a more cost-effective framework, and they ask the Commission to assess the potential of an EU-wide mechanism for promoting renewables.
Members of the Energy Committee suggest that targets and milestones should be set for the period to 2050, and given the European Commission’s assumption that renewables will have a share of more than 30 percent in the EU’s energy mix, MEPs suggest that the EU should try to achieve an even higher share, while asking the Commission to assess the costs and benefits of introducing a mandatory EU-wide target for renewables for 2030. An amendment calling for a “binding target of 40-45 percent for 2030” was rejected with 18 votes in favor to 31 against.
Access to capital for investments is a crucial factor in the further deployment of renewables, while there is an increasing need for a stable policy framework to provide economic guarantees concerning the availability of reserve capacity mechanisms as well as for system and balancing services, says the text. Energy Committee members call on the Commission to take action to remedy obstacles to trade to help EU companies to access non-EU markets, and highlight the need to facilitate a competitive environment for the operations and internationalization of SMEs.
The non-legislative resolution was adopted with 49 votes in favor, 7 against and 1 abstention.
