Promotion of Renewable Electricity in the European Union

Abstract

Initiated by strong EU commitments EU Member States have formulated sets of national support mechanisms to promote the deployment of renewable electricity in their home markets. These combined efforts have resulted in a strong uptake of renewable electricity in Europe, with 14% of the overall electricity supply coming from renewable energy sources in 2004. As the coordination of support mechanisms at the European level is lacking, each Member State has chosen its own set of instruments, each with its own technology specifics and eligibility requirements. Current discussions focus on the need, drawbacks and benefits of formulating a harmonised European support framework. Harmonised or not, the further improvement of support mechanisms should be complemented by addreassing non-economic barriers to RES-E implementation such as insufficient grid capacity, complicated authorisation procedures and long lead times.