NEWS & EVENTS : ENERGY
Europe tackles how to create the energy system of the future
10.13.2015
Europe's electricity system is in the middle of a period of profound change, and Europe has considerable challenges to overcome before its energy landscape is fit for purpose.
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Last week – on 8-9 October, a high-level conference and the European Electricity Regulatory Forum took place in Florence. It debated the complex issues of market integration across Europe, how to make markets more flexible to accommodate greater levels of renewable energy, and how to ensure a secure system which can deliver energy when and where it is needed.
On market flexibility, delegates discussed a number of topics, including how to help consumers take part in the energy system – such as by encouraging them to use less electricity - and the role that distribution systems – which carry electricity from the grid to the consumer - can play. They also discussed the challenges of integrating significantly greater amounts of renewable power. As such sources of power often vary according to weather conditions, a fully flexible internal market, which maintains security of supply and affordability, is needed.
Participants at the two events also discussed how markets can be better integrated across Europe, including the role that regional cooperation can play and how to ensure the right regulatory oversight.
The discussions at the high-level conference and at the 29th Meeting of the European Electricity Regulatory Forum are set to feed–in to the Commission's communication (http://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/news/new-electricity-market-consumers) published this summer on a new energy market design.
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