On Tuesday, the European Commission will present a proposal to overhaul the electricity market in the European Union (EU) to make electricity prices less volatile and less dependent on gas prices by expanding access to renewable energy.
After months of severe energy crisis and several emergency measures in response, the Community Executive presents on Tuesday its proposal to reconfigure the European electricity market to protect consumers from excessive price volatility, facilitate their access to safe energy from clean sources and make the sector more resilient.
The presentation will be made from 13:30 (Lisbon time) by European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson, who in an interview with Lusa late last year stressed that it would be “a reform to improve the design of electricity energy”.
At the time, the European regulator told Lusa that the idea was “to provide consumers with the benefits of renewable energy and low-carbon technologies at affordable prices while maintaining the benefits of a shared electrical system.”
In a draft proposal to be presented on Tuesday and to which Lusa had access, the community’s chief executive emphasizes that “measures aimed at creating a buffer between short-term markets and electricity bills paid by consumers, in particular by encouraging long-term contracts to improve the functioning of short-term markets to better integrate renewables and increase the role of flexibility, as well as empower and protect consumers.”
In particular, the organization believes that European consumers should be able to sign contracts at fixed electricity prices for at least one year and have access to a wider selection of contracts.
At the same time, the European Commission wants to reduce the volatility of electricity prices in the European Union by reducing the impact of gas on electricity, promoting contracts for the purchase and sale of clean energy based on predetermined values and government guarantees.
EU electricity prices have risen sharply in recent months, sparking criticism of its gas price-driven formulation, a situation the European Commission wants to reverse.
In the current configuration of the European market, gas determines the global price of electricity when it is used, since all producers receive the same price for the same product — electricity — when it enters the grid.
There is a consensus in the EU that the current marginal pricing model is the most efficient, but the acute energy crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine has sparked debate given Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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