Position papers

The Commission’s assessment of the 27 National Energy & Climate Plans is stark1 – Member States are currently not harnessing R&I to deliver on their climate and energy objectives.
To reach climate neutrality by 2050, and to strengthen Europe’s global leadership in renewables, new innovations must be brought to market this decade.

Emerging renewable energy technologies cannot compete directly with already-established energy technologies. Established technologies have benefited from cumulative learnings over decades of operation, allowing them to generate power at extremely low cost, relative to newly emerging technologies.

As the discussions enter the trilogue phase we call on the co-legislators to ensure that the Recovery & Resilience Plans are fully consistent with the EU’s commitments under the Paris Agreement and the EU’s own objective of climate neutrality by 2050.

The next five years are critical to consolidate Europe’s leadership in ocean energy. Deploying 100 MW will enable the sector to progress towards the commercial phase and boost the European green recovery.

2.2GW of tidal stream and 423MW of wave energy could be deployed in Europe by 20301 and the industry forecasts it could install 100 GW in European waters by 2050, with the right policies in place. This represents 10% of Europe’s current electricity needs, or 94 million households/year.

Addressing permitting bottlenecks is critical to unlock renewables’ potential and make investments happen. But as things stand, national licensing frameworks do not keep pace with the scale and volume of renewable investments needed to deliver an EU green recovery – let alone the European Green Deal.

We stand behind the European Green Deal and urge you to create this link with the immediate stimulus packages. Today’s action addressing health and climate challenges across all policy areas and sectors will improve the well-being of citizens and the climate while strengthening Europ

In anticipation of the European Commission’s forthcoming industrial strategy, which will lay out the foundation of a climate-neutral society, 10 leading European renewable energy associations joined forces to stress the strategic importance of their sectors in delivering the European Green Deal and facilitating the decarbonisation of industry.

The European renewable industries welcome the decision by President Elect of the Commission von der Leyen to enshrine the objective of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 into EU law.

The EIB’s aspiration to “stop lending to fossil-fuel energy projects by the end of 2020” and focus on the “energy efficiency first principle”, renewable energy and the necessity to support a “just transition” for workers in high-carbon sectors, has sent an important signal to financial markets and institutions across the globe.

Research and Innovation funding is crucial to deliver the EU’s energy and climate objectives. To enable researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs generate fresh ideas, develop breakthrough technologies and create new business models, we are calling upon the European Union to increase R&I funding in the Horizon Europe budget to at least €120 billion, and to ensure a significant share of the budget is directed toward putting Europe on track to reach the Paris Agreement goals.

The Clean Energy Package sets a renewable energy target of at least 32% by 2030. For investors, this target is the minimum to keep momentum going in the fast-growing sector that is the renewable energy industry. Meeting this target is necessary for Europe to reap the economic benefits resulting from a clean and efficient energy system by 2050. This will strengthen European competitiveness at the global level boosting domestic jobs and growth.

With the upcoming decision on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the EU institutions will set a direction which will determine the evolution of EU investments and have a direct impact on our energy system for decades to come. Considering the EU commitment to the Paris Agreement towards carbon neutrality by 2050, the forthcoming European Regional and Development Fund (ERDF) and Cohesion Fund (CF) must play their parts in putting renewables (RES) at the centre of the EU energy system and must not include the possibility for subsidies to fossil fuels.

Bioenergy Europe, the European Geothermal Energy Council, the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association and Ocean Energy Europe, trade associations respectively representing the bioenergy, geothermal, solar thermal electricity (also known as concentrated solar thermal) and ocean energy sectors, call for a proper recognition of the role of flexible and/or dispatchablei renewable generation in the post 2020 electricity market regulatory framework.

With its Joint Paper “For an ambitious EU Industrial Strategy: Going further” (October 2017), the Industry4Europe coalition has been calling for a long-term vision for Europe’s industry which demands a long-term governance structure going beyond the 6-month EU Presidency cycle and the 5-year mandate of the current European Commission. Such a governance structure should enable the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament, together with industry stakeholders, to develop a common vision for a smart, innovative and sustainable industry. 

Joint letter to Member State representatives and European Parliament Rapporteurs, ahead of the Electricity Market Design travelogues:

The European Council’s General orientations on the Electricity Market regulation adopted in December 2017, introduce the possibility to place an unfair financial and administrative burden on small-scale renewable and high efficiency cogeneration installations, demonstration projects, and energy communities. Allowing Member States to remove priority dispatch and exemptions on balancing responsibilities without any pre-condition related to market-readiness will put small-scale players at an extreme disadvantage and undermine the necessary uptake of such installations in Europe.

Letter to Commissioners Moedas, Cañete, Šefčovič,  & Vella in support of a dedicated ‘Area of Intervention’ for renewable energy, within the ‘Climate, Energy & Mobility’ cluster of Horizon Europe.

 

The EU has been a leading force for the adoption of the Paris agreement, and adopted ambitious binding targets to reduce its CO2 emissions by 40% by 2030. To achieve these goals, strong transformative changes are needed in both the transport and energy sectors.

A joint letter from 21 European associations, including Ocean Energy Europe, to  Commissioner Moedas, dear Commissioner Oettinger, calling for 35% of the EU budget to be allocated to climate related work.

Further to the meeting of the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council that took place on Monday 18 December, the European renewables industry would like to highlight the key points of the Council’s general approach and negotiating position on the Electricity Directive and Electricity Regulation.

The renewable energy industry urges the Members of the Parliament and the Council to support a robust governance framework, building on credible National Energy and Climate Plans and a linear RES deployment trajectory.

The signatories of this declaration urge policy makers to acknowledge the specificities of small-scale renewable, and high efficiency cogeneration installations as well as demonstration projects, by strengthening the European Commission’s proposal on Article 4 paragraph 2 on balancing responsibilities and supporting Article 11 paragraph 2 and 3 on priority of dispatch for small installations, as part of the recast of the electricity market design regulation COM (2016) 861.

#Industry4Europe reaction paper to the European Commission Communication, "Investing in a smart, innovative, and sustainable industry - A renewed EU industrial policy strategy"

Leftover funds from the 1st NER 300 call are a second chance to deploy a range of new renewable energy demonstration projects and make NER300 even more successful.

Over 130 EU-wide organisations, including Ocean Energy Europe, have called for an ambitious EU Industrial Strategy via a joint declaration.

Higher renewable energy ambition required to avoid deployment slowdown

The European renewable electricity industry backs calls for a carbon criterion emissions performance standard in Capacity Mechanisms and in the ETS Modernisation Fund.

Position paper from Europe's renewable energy industry associations, including Ocean Energy Europe

Position paper from the EU's renewable energy industry associations on the design of the ETS' Innovation Fund, the successor to the NER300 programme.