Efficiency and dependence in the European electricity transition

Jacques Percebois and Stanislas Pommeret

Energy Policy, 2021, vol. 154, issue C

Abstract: Although the European Union sets common objectives, each member country is in charge of its own energy policy. An exhaustive analysis of the power generation mixes of the EU member countries from 1990 to 2017 has revealed strong disparities in the evolution of their structure. Using key performance indicators, the paper analyzes the current situation in terms of carbon intensity, dependence, vulnerability and energy transition dynamics. The paper focuses on the transition dynamics for 12 emblematic EU countries. It is worthwhile to note that most of these countries have managed to reduce the carbon intensity of their electricity. The analysis revealed, for some countries, an empirical relationship between imports and the carbon intensity of power generation. The increase of the share of renewable energies induces a dependence of a country on its neighbors as long as a massive storage of electricity is not available. The increased electricity trade with neighboring countries induce costs and benefits. Only countries that have invested heavily in hydro and nuclear power benefit from both a low-carbon electrical production mix and a low dependence on imports. Finally, the paper suggests some avenues for public policies in the energy field.

Keywords: European electricity balance; Renewable energies; Nuclear energy; Electrical production mix carbon intensity; Energy transition efficiency; Electrical dependency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421521001695
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:enepol:v:154:y:2021:i:c:s0301421521001695

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112300

Access Statistics for this article

Energy Policy is currently edited by N. France

More articles in Energy Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().