The United Kingdom and the Czech Republic have opposed calls
by eight EU member states to introduce a renewable energy target for 2030,
claiming the EU’s future climate and energy framework should be technology
neutral and allow nuclear energy among other sources, EurActiv.cz reports.
On 22 January, a blockbuster EU climate and energy package
is due to be unveiled, comprising new legislative proposals on subjects ranging
from shale gas and tar sands to structural carbon market reform and industrial
competitiveness.
Disagreement over an objective for renewable sources of
energy (RES) seems to be one of the most controversial parts of the debate on
the EU’s 2030 climate and energy package.
The
European Commission and Parliament have already clashed over the 2030
framework.
Germany and seven other countries, including France and
Italy, have
called on the Commission to set robust renewable energy target for
2030, not mentioning whether it should be binding or not. Other states could
probably accept a renewable energy target under certain conditions.
But there are also two countries explicitly against any such
goal – the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic, not to mention Poland which opposes
both an RES and CO2 reduction target.
Technology neutral
According to the Czech government, the EU's climate and
energy policies should be “based on a neutral approach towards all energy
technologies”, including nuclear.
“RES represent just one of the possible ways towards
low-carbon economy,” the government says in an official position document which
mentions nuclear power as one of the other potential energy sources.
In the current climate package for 2020, there is a target
of 20% share for renewables in the energy mix. But it was adopted in a
different situation than the EU faces today, according to Edward Davey, the
British secretary of state for energy and climate change.
“Most renewables technologies were immature; and we were at
the peak of an economic boom,” Davey said during a Brussels
speech in June. “Now, six years later, renewable technology is maturing
and other technologies like carbon capture and storage and new nuclear are set
to contribute to the low-carbon mix,” he added.
New nuclear
Both countries are planning to increase the share of nuclear
power in their energy mix. The UK intends to build a two reactor nuclear power
station at Hinkley Point, in the west of the country, offering a guaranteed
power price for 35 years of the project, awarded to France’s EDF.
The Czech Republic wants to extend the lifespan of its
Temelín nuclear power plant. It is also considering a scheme to ensure that the
investment will pay back to the investor, the Czech energy group ČEZ.
The move is strongly criticised by green campaign groups in
the Czech Republic. They argue the project will carry a heavy price tag for
electricity users, recalling the hefty increase in power prices caused by the
country’s flawed renewable energy support scheme. The so-called “solar fraud”,
as it was called, resulted in a threat to Czech industries, which were punished
with higher energy costs.
No support schemes
The very same argument is being used by opponents of binding
renewable energy targets, who point out that renewable support schemes in form
of feed-in-tariffs caused market distortions and higher
electricity prices for European households and industries.
European enterprises have been paying more than twice the
electricity price than their American counterparts and four times as much for
gas following the US shale gas boom.
“The guaranteed buy-out price paid for by consumers has
caused the electricity price to stop expressing real production costs; instead,
it now rather expresses political objectives,” Ivo Hlaváč of ČEZ told EurActiv.cz.
“We are asking to stop or dramatically reduce subsidies for
renewables in mature technologies, and to concentrate subsidies on R&D for
the technologies of tomorrow,” said Gérard Mestrallet, the CEO of GDF Suez, at
a press conference in Brussels in October.
On the other hand, Germany and the seven other proponents of
renewables stress that such a goal would strengthen European competitiveness,
resulting in more so-called ‘green jobs’ and economic growth.
Pushing for a single CO2 target.
GDF Suez and ČEZ are part of an initiative by twelve
European utilities, which are lobbing for changes to the EU’s climate and
energy policy. They advocate for a single 2030 target focused on CO2 emissions
reduction rather than focusing on a particular energy source.
Their main argument is that the current system – with a CO2
emissions reduction target, a renewable energy target and an energy efficiency target
– is set up in such a way that the three goals clash with each other. For
example the
carbon market does not function well with the off-market support for
renewables and support for energy efficiency, they claim.
In addition, focusing on renewable energy alone does not
automatically result in lower CO2 emissions, they argue, citing the example of
Germany, which aims for 80% renewables in 2050, but currently burns record
amounts of coal.
Germany indeed burned the highest amount of coal in 20 years
last year, according to media reports. The country, which is phasing out all of
its nuclear reactors, has suffered from low CO2 prices, putting cleaner gas
utilities at a disadvantage against dirtier and cheaper coal resources.
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