The Electrification Alliance unveiled a new ‘Electrification Manifesto’ urging the European Commission to fast-track the electrification of Europe.
Today, less than 25% of all energy consumed in Europe is electricity. The remaining energy Europeans use to heat their houses, fuel their vehicles and power their factories largely comes from fossil fuels. This needs to change. To achieve climate neutrality by 2050, up to three-quarters of final energy consumption in Europe will be electrified directly or indirectly. To align with the Green Deal, all this electricity will need to come from clean energy sources by then.
But the EU’s electrification efforts are falling short. To advance direct electrification, the EU must:
- accelerate the build-out of renewables
- at least double today’s investments in the optimisation and expansion of electricity grids
- support a rapid uptake of electrified end-user applications like electric cars and trucks in transport and heat pumps in heating
Yet, none of this can be achieved without regulation.
The Electrification Alliance presented a new Manifesto outlining key policies to accelerate the uptake of direct, smart electrification in Europe. The Manifesto calls for a dedicated Electrification Action Plan in the first 100 days of the incoming European Commission’s mandate.
This Electrification Action Plan should set a target of 35% electrification of final energy use across the EU by 2030. It should ensure electrification becomes an integral element of Member States’ National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs).
The Manifesto also calls on the incoming Commission to ramp up investments in electricity grids. Europe needs to overhaul its energy infrastructure planning– starting with an immediate reform of the TEN-E Regulation and Ten-Year Network Development Plan processes for both transmission and distribution system operators. Crucially, grid planning needs better coordination and more political oversight to ensure it delivers on net zero.
Other concrete policy actions in the Manifesto include programmes to attract skilled workers, the prioritisation of direct, smart electrification in the EU’s funding and financing programmes and the empowerment of end-users to utilise the full potential of demand side management.
Read the full Manifesto here.