Energy ‘bad guys’ urged to unlock grids

If the EU is to meet its target of obtaining 20% of its energy from renewable sources, one of the main issues to be addressed is access to transmission grids for renewable energy producers.

Fair access to transmission networks was one of the objectives of the 2001 directive on renewable energy. But according to Oliver Schäfer, policy director at the European Renewables Energy Council (EREC), "we have good EU rules but they are not properly implemented in some member states".

The European Commission has launched infringement proceedings against eight member states for failing to transpose the directive into national law but the process could take years to deliver results.

Schäfer says the "good guys" are the usual suspects, the countries which have achieved large shares of renewables such as Germany, Spain and Denmark.

EREC has been strongly supportive of the Commission’s push, in its September energy market liberalisation package, for ownership unbundling ie, requiring energy generating companies to sell off their transmission networks to avoid potential conflicts of interest over access to the network. Schäfer highlights problems on markets with "big monopolistic structures, like in France". Referring to the alternative to ownership unbundling proposed by the Commission, of an independent system operator (ISO) which could still be owned by a generating company but separate in operational terms and management, he says: "We don’t understand why the Commission has proposed the second option."

But the challenges for renewable energy suppliers are not only related to the ownership structure of the transmission grids but also the wide range of different administrative hurdles. These include planning and licensing procedures. "It doesn’t help to have good tariffs for hydropower if it takes you seven years to get a licence," Schäfer says. EREC hopes that the Commission will come up with "strong measures" to remove administrative barriers when it presents its draft directive on renewable energy on 5 December. In its position paper, EREC calls for a "one-stop shop" for approvals, a move which was backed by MEPs in their vote last week on a report on the renewables roadmap strategy, drafted by Danish Socialist MEP Britta Thomsen.

Given the time needed for the changes proposed by the Commission in its September energy market liberalisation package to come into force, EREC is calling for priority access to the grid for energy from renewable sources. But the energy industry points out that energy from renewable sources presents certain problems to grid operators. For example, energy generation can be intermittent depending on climatic conditions.

If the EU is to meet its target of obtaining 20% of its energy from renewable sources, one of the main issues to be addressed is access to transmission grids for renewable energy producers.