We think that the electricity markets that were developed over the last two decades did what they were supposed to do during this crisis: through higher prices, they convey the message that energy is scarce. “Shooting the messenger” is not going to remove the problem. However, we also learned a lot during this crisis on how electricity markets can be completed and complemented with regulatory instruments, which is why we have three recommendations: First recommendation: Enable and incentivize consumers and suppliers to hedge via well-functioning forward markets (which would complete the sequence of electricity markets). Second recommendation: Give consumers access to cheap renewables with Contracts for Difference (CfDs) and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) that are compatible with short-term markets. Third recommendation: De-risk the investments in energy resources AND mitigate affordability concerns for consumers by redesigning Capacity Remuneration Mechanisms (CRMs) or by complementing these mechanisms with other regulatory tools. We finally observe that a broader reform could also aim at accelerating the innovations on the consumers’ side envisioned by the Clean Energy Package. These innovations can bring the much-needed flexibility in decarbonized energy systems.
In the Commission’s Industrial Carbon Management Strategy it acknowledges the importance of CCUs, and that without it the EU will not succeed in its Green deal and Net Zero ambitions. [...]
The Recast Directive opens the single European railway area to competition. Competition is gradually emerging across the EU but there are obvious asymmetries among Member States, in particular in the [...]
As the 2021 EU urban mobility framework states, Europe is one of the most urbanised regions in the world with a huge variety of cities that are important economic and [...]
For decades, environmental degradation has been the focus of public opinion, academia, research centers, and institutions. This attention is motivated by increasing awareness of the severe ecological and socio-economic problems [...]
This policy brief, written in May 2024, provides an overview of the international carbon market landscape and describes the status quo in terms of the degree of its integration and [...]
The general objective of the report is to map – quantitatively and qualitatively – the main existing policy frameworks and strategies for sustainable development (SD) and sustainability transitions (ST) in [...]
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