ESPON Project 2.1.4
TERRITORIAL TRENDS OF ENERGY SERVICES AND
NETWORKS AND TERRITORIAL IMPACT OF EU ENERGY
POLICY
CEEETA
Research Centre for Energy, Transport and Environment Economics
Álvaro Martins/Luís Centeno
The energy sector in Europe
•
High level of oil dependency of the European energy systems
•
The pressure on GHG emissions owing to the high share of fossil
fuels on primary energy supply
•
Renewable energy sources development as the opportunity for
reducing the dependency of fossil fuels
•
Energy prices impact and renewable energy resources are
important links with territorial development
The need for an integrated approach to energy policy
At the present state of the technology and global
markets, low prices are an important boost for
increased demand for fossil and nuclear energy
sources.
Setting the right balance among competitiveness,
environment and local development requires
an integrated approach where these three
objectives are considered together and the costs
of present decisions on the medium run are
accounted.
TEN-E and liberalized markets are only sensible
policy options if a strong regulation policy
environment is set in order to reduce room for
undesirable outcomes.
Typology of self-sufficiency of European countries in
energy resources
• Countries with less
endogenous resources for
mainstream energy sources
(oil, coal, large hydro)
should reinforce their
means of getting access to
new forms of producing
energy
Promoting full costing of energy use
Competitiveness of renewable sources compared with fossil
sources will be easily achieved if the externalities of
energy used are fully transferred to final prices.
The low price elasticity of energy and the low level of
energy costs in economic activity will cushion the impacts
of such pricing policy.
In a number of European regions these policy changes must
be done with care in order to avoid major social and
economic impacts. Transfer of resources from most
advanced and less sensible regions to those more at risk
to energy shocks could be used.
Sensibility to energy price changes and country
pressure on GHG emissions
• Problem regions are
mostly located in New
Members.
• For these regions
special care must be
placed when dealing
with emissions control,
since these could be
damaged by eventual
price impacts.
Flexibility in price policy
There are heavy differences of electricity prices for
industry and for households at country level. In
several countries the gap between prices for
industry and for households is widening. However
energy prices seem not relevant to explain
either energy consumption or development
differences between countries. These results are
very important for pricing policy.
Pricing policy can and must be used to generate
financial resources to be diverted to areas such
as: promotion of renewables, energy efficiency,
and consumer’s information policy.
Sensibility to variations on energy prices and energy
self-sufficiency
1.The impacts vary
significantly among
countries.
2.Achieving a higher
degree of self
sufficiency has a price
tag on it. Energy
could become more
expensive if less
obvious energy
sources are used.
Renewable energy development
Renewable energy by its decentralized nature can have a
very positive impact on local job creation and revenue
generation. The target for electricity production from
renewable sources must be achieved in 2010.
Fighting Green House Gases emissions and the high
dependency on oil in almost all the countries considered
both call for an active strategy on renewables
development at local level.
Local impacts of energy policy are only clearly visible in
the promotion of renewable sources, providing local
income, entrepreneurship and employment opportunities.
Thus the strategy for the promotion of renewable can be of
high importance in the creation of conditions for a
polycentric Europe.
Potential share of renewables in electricity
consumption
• Clusters of countries
according to their
capability to replace
fossil sources by
renewables in the
production of
electricity
Further issues
Promote R&D on energy efficiency and use of renewables
• Europe has considerable energy resources in renewable
sources such as biomass, wind, hydro and solar. However
there are presently technical limits to the extent in which
renewables potential can be used. For instance the share
of electricity produced from wind farms has an upper
limit set by technical grid constraints. Overcoming theses
limits is a key issue on the promotion of renewables and
European energy self-reliance.
• This is a particularly sensitive item for the energy
production structure of islands and more remote regions
to whom links with transeuropean grids are impossible or
not cost effective.
Further issues
Availability of statistical data
Difficulties of adequate statistical data are reported along the
study. To carry out research in order to understand the main
problems concerned, complete data bases with adequate
desegregation have to be available. The existing public data
bases have to be improved.