The EU energy market of the future: cooperative recommendations

Dirk Vansintjan, president of REScoop.EU, the European Federation of Renewable Energy Sources COOPeratives, presented the challenges that REScoops are facing in some EU countries and at the European level in general. He also explained REScoop recommendations to policy makers and citizens in Europe making a passionate call to take action as the energy transition has been driven so far by citizens.

 

Marie Donnelly, Director at DG Energy – European Commission, expressed the Commission’s support for a future EU energy market which is more decentralised, which puts renewable energies at the centre and capitalises on the involvement of citizens. She advocated for a holistic energy system as energy has moved from a commodity to becoming a service. A change process is under way and renewable energy cooperatives need to be fit into the new future EU energy market. She laid out some key features of the future energy market design with focus on demand response, flexibility, valued storage capacity and clear roles and responsibilities of the different market players.

 

In closing the event, Klaus Niederländer, Director at Cooperatives Europe, provided some key cooperative features that the future EU energy market requirer going beyond the current more quantitative efficiency and effectiveness guidelines and principles: