Efficiency legislation must harness the potential of clean electricity

News Article

EURELECTRIC has co-signed a common statement calling for the revision of the Primary Energy Factor (PEF) for electricity. Joining a group of national and European stakeholders, the European electricity association voiced its support for a review of the methodology for the calculation of the PEF for electricity in EU energy efficiency legislation, which better reflects the development of the European power generation mix.

The PEF indicates how much primary energy is used to generate a unit of electricity or a unit of useable thermal energy. This means that the PEF has profound impacts on the market competitiveness of technologies, as well as on how energy efficient European building stock is perceived to be. The paper states that the current PEF of 2.5 is outdated and calls for the adoption of a PEF which reflects a larger gap between the factors used for fossil fuel and for renewable energy.

The common statement comes a few days following the publication of the draft report tabled by MEP Adam Gierek, European Parliament rapporteur on the revision of the Energy Efficiency Directive. In light of this report, EURELECTRIC calls on European policymakers to prevent a fossil lock-in for decades to come. EURELECTRIC is concerned that the profound changes to EU energy efficiency legislation proposed in Gierek’s draft report go in the wrong direction and risk jeopardising the delivery of cost-effective energy efficiency improvements in the EU.

“The Clean Energy Package must ensure that we get the necessary policy changes now to ensure that electricity fulfils its potential as a key part of the solution to Europe’s decarbonisation challenge,” said EURELECTRIC Secretary General, Kristian Ruby.

“Some of the measures proposed by Mr. Gierek, such as the redefinition of the efficiency target, revisions to the EU ETS, changes to energy savings obligations and the new methodology to calculate a Primary Energy Factor for electricity, will hamper electrification efforts and ultimately undermine efficiency improvements and decarbonisation across Europe,” Ruby added.

“We encourage Members of the European Parliament and EU Member States to build on the approach proposed by the Commission in its proposal, and to recognise the significant value that decarbonised electricity will have in the EU’s decarbonisation efforts,” Ruby said.

EURELECTRIC recently launched A Bright Future for Europe, a report which analyses the potential impacts of electrification in transport as well as heating/cooling, and provides a set of key policy recommendations for how to maximise the benefits for European society and consumers.