The energy sector plays a pivotal role in combating climate change and adapting the economy to a sustainable carbon-neutral future. Whilst the electricity industry will deliver an important contribution to this objective, this will require profound changes, affecting investment decisions and the capacity of electricity markets to accompany such a major evolutionary process.
The development of a truly European electricity market in the face of a large market penetration of intermittent generation is becoming an increasingly pressing issue. This has been acknowledged by the Heads of State and Government who earlier this year unanimously called for the completion of the internal electricity market by 2014. The EURELECTRIC conference took that declaration as a point of departure to look at the progress made so far in integrating wholesale markets, the proposed strategy to fulfil that political ambition, and how the objective of building a competitive retail market interrelates with the political will to deliver energy efficiency.
At the same time, European energy and climate change legislation over the last few years has intensified, leading to a more complex set of Directives and Regulations with -sometimes - unclear mutual implications. The ability of electricity markets to drive progress towards a carbon-neutral society, integrate a high level of intermittent generation and fulfil mandatory energy efficiency targets remains largely untested. This event, bringing together high-level energy experts, assessed the progress made and tackle the challenges ahead, investigating how they will affect electricity market design and highlighting possible foreseeable options.