The access of renewable energy sources to the grid in a liberalised European electricity market - the necessity to establish smart grids

The deregulation of the electricity industry is yet an unfinished process as the recent ‘energy package’ of the European Union testifies. The reforms aim at increasing the separation of supply and production activities from network operation, enhancing the role of national energy regulators and providing a European regulatory oversight.

The European Union also adopted a ‘climate package’, which led the pledge to increase the share of renewable energy sources to 20% and to increase energy efficiency by 20% by 2020. These targets entail that the share of electricity from renewable energy sources must be increased as well as transmission and demand-side management made more efficient. To realise these goals, important infrastructure challenges will have to be addressed by the European legislator.

The modernisation of the current grid, built for carrying large quantities of electricity over long distances is, however, a prerequisite for the large-scale deployment of renewable energies.

The scope of this paper is thus to explore the economic and legal impediments for renewable energy sources to access electricity networks. This implies an in-depth study of the effects of the liberalisation process on the production and the trade of renewable electricity. Based on these conclusions, the second part shall be devoted to making proposals as to how to improve the access of renewables to the grid and more generally its trading conditions throughout Europe. This study will include, inter alia, the examination of the technology platform ‘Smartgrids’ and the Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of electricity from renewable energy sources.