Renewables policy saves EU €6bn a year
Corinna Kleßmann defended her PhD thesis at Utrecht University this month.
Stepping up to a next phase in policy support for renewable energy could save the EU €4bn of policy costs a year.
In addition, if EU member states would increasingly cooperate, another €2bn to €3bn billion could be saved in annual policy costs for achieving the 2020 targets. This is one of the main conclusions Corinna Kleßmann draws from her PhD thesis, which she defended at Utrecht University earlier this month.
Kleßmann, who works as a managing consultant, policy design and evaluation, with Ecofys Germany, discussed the effective and cost efficient design of renewable energy sources support policies in the European Union. The support of renewables in the EU is a patchwork of 27 different policy portfolios, guided by the EU Directive targeting a 20% share of renewables by 2020.
The analysis shows that the effectiveness and efficiency of policies is still low in many European member states, but top runner countries have gained significant experience in tailored policy design.
“The first thing in improving policies is reducing the risks for investors, Kleßmann said. “This is in parallel with ensuring long term commitment and increasing the stability of the regulatory framework. These two aspects will considerably reduce policy costs. In the present circumstances of the financial crisis, this has become even more important than before.”
Countries that are lagging behind should apply elements from the successful policies applied in top runner countries like Germany, Denmark or Sweden. Cross-countrycooperation on renewables support could occur in specific projects. The European law also allows countries to fully integrate their individual national targets and policies.
“This kind of bottom-up cooperation between member states seems more promising than a drastic harmonization of policies by the European Commission”, Kleßmann concluded.
Corinna Kleßmann’s thesis is available online at http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/dissertations/2011-1222-200420/klessmann.pdf. Her employer, Ecofys, provides expertise in renewable energy, energy and carbon efficiency, energy systems and markets, and energy and climate policies. It employs more than 250 experts at offices in the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, China and the USA.
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