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Coping with the Crisis: Increasing Resilience in Small Businesses in Europe through Energy Efficiency
…With many small businesses already reeling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the current high energy prices and supply uncertainty are creating further pressure on their survival. How the EU supports SMEs Since the start of the energy crisis, the European Commission has come forward with several initiatives that aim at supporting not only households but also small businesses. Already in October 2021, the Commission published a toolbox of measures that EU countries can use to help businesses, such as income support, energy vouchers, rebates on bills or financial support for energy efficiency and renewable energy measures. More recently…
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IEA Support to Accelerating Renewable Energy Permitting (ARPE)
…Between October 2023 and March 2025, the IEA implemented the “Accelerating Renewable Energy Permitting” (ARPE) action. The goal of ARPE was to support five EU Member states – Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and the Slovak Republic (Focus countries) – in developing and implementing policy and regulatory measures aimed at reaching their renewable energy targets, notably through accelerating permitting of renewable energy projects.In support of this objective, the IEA organised and facilitated five workshops focused on the following topics:streamlining administrative proceduresaccelerating offshore wind deploymentfacilitating spatial planning for renewable energy deploymentensuring public engagement and acceptance, and afinal workshop summarizing the project…
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Is renewable energy capacity in the European Union making windfall profits from high wholesale prices?
…In October 2022, the European Council passed a regulation on an emergency intervention to address high energy prices. The regulation proposes windfall-profit levies on fossil fuel producers through a temporary solidarity contribution, and on electricity generators (or inframarginal electricity producers) that have lower marginal costs than the price-setting gas units. The Council also introduced plans to cap the wholesale electricity price at EUR 180/MWh or lower, and expects that member countries would raise EUR 117 billion annually. This market intervention aims to reduce electricity prices to protect and support vulnerable energy consumers. As the proposal’s interpretation and…
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European Union 2020
…which aims to prepare the EU for climate neutrality by 2050. The EU’s impressive track record of decarbonising power systems through renewable energy technologies, notably offshore wind but also solar PV, offers an inspiring example for many economies around the world. It also provides a sound basis for the broader decarbonisation of Europe’s economy in the longer term. To achieve climate neutrality, EU policy efforts need to focus on transport, industry and buildings, alongside policies that support energy system integration.
This policy review commends the progress made by the EU, such as the creation of an internal energy… -
Is the European Union on track to meet its REPowerEU goals?
Renewables 2022 This report forms a component of Chapter 4 of Renewables 2022 and addresses a key question in renewable energy markets. The REPowerEU plan’s aim is to rapidly reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels by 2027, and the European Commission estimates that this will require significant expansion of renewable energy shares in the electricity, transport and heating sectors. Although the use of renewable energy does increase in all three of these sectors by 2027 in our main-case forecast, in none of them are levels consistent with the REPowerEU plan. While the share of renewables in electricity expands…
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Hydrogen in North-Western Europe
…region and how the sector could evolve towards 2030.
National policies and project plans for hydrogen development are brought together to explore opportunities to tap into the full potential of hydrogen as a clean energy vector. This paper aims to foster a deeper discussion about ways for countries in the north-western European region to collaborate and benefit from hydrogen developments in their neighbouring countries with a view to accelerating national deployment and the development of a regional hydrogen market. Executive summary The north-western European region is well placed to lead hydrogen adoption as a clean energy vector. Today…
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Will new PV manufacturing policies in the United States, India and the European Union create global PV supply diversification?
…relatively low energy costs and labour productivity make China the most competitive solar module manufacturer worldwide. Higher investment costs in India are the primary reason for the cost differential with China, while higher overhead and labour costs makes US PV manufacturing not as competitive. In Europe, rising energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine widened the cost gap with China. Today, EU industrial energy prices are more than triple those of China, India and the United States. Manufacturing policies in India and the United States Recent policy actions in India and the United States aim to increase the competitiveness…
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Northwest European Hydrogen Monitor 2022
…of renewable and low-emission hydrogen markets will also necessitate a regional approach in order to maximise the existing synergies amongst national marketThis is the first edition of the Northwest European Hydrogen Monitor. It aims to provide an annual update of the renewable and low-emission hydrogen market developments in Northwest Europe. It is the result of a collaboration among the countries involved in the Hydrogen Initiative of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM-H2I) workstream entitled, “Roundtable on the North-West European Region” and the hydrogen working group of the Pentalateral Forum.The countries analysed in this monitor are: Austria…
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Developing Capacity for Long-Term Energy Policy Planning: A Roadmap
EU4Energy regional roadmap Today’s main policy questions relate to what an energy policy should look like to be robust and flexible enough to deal with the uncertainties of the future. Therefore, a scenario-approach relying on energy system models is essential to support decision making because modern energy system analysis provides the best chance of ensuring decisions will not be regretted in the medium to long term.Developing analytical capacity (i.e. tools and staff skills) is complex and time-consuming. To maintain – and especially expand – a country’s capacity for long-term energy planning, adequate resources need to…
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How to Avoid Gas Shortages in the European Union in 2023
…natural gas markets are not yet out of the danger created by Russia’s cuts to pipeline deliveries of gas. If gas exports from Russia drop to zero and China’s LNG imports rebound to 2021 levels, there is a risk of a shortfall gas supplies in 2023. Measures already taken by EU governments on energy efficiency, renewables and heat pumps should help reduce the size of this potential natural gas supply-demand gap in 2023. A recovery in nuclear and hydropower output from their decade-low levels in 2022 should also help narrow the gap. Despite all of this…
