BAKGRUNN (fra kommisjonsrapporten)

Introduction

Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine has massively disrupted the world’s energy system. It has shown the EU’s over-dependency on Russian fossil fuels and emphasised the need to enhance the resilience of the EU’s energy system, which had already been challenged by the COVID-19 crisis. The all-time high energy prices and the risk of supply shortages across the EU have made it even more urgent to accelerate the twin green and digital transition under the European Green Deal and to ensure a more secure, affordable, resilient, and independent energy system.

The year 2022 has been marked by the REPowerEU plan, a crucial element of the EU’s policy response to the unprecedented crisis. The plan is a roadmap to phase out the EU’s dependency on Russian energy imports as soon as possible through measures on energy saving, the diversification of energy supplies, and the accelerated roll-out of renewable energy.

Furthermore, with the “Save gas for a safe winter” Communication, the Commission has put forward a plan to reduce gas use in the EU by 15% until next spring. The Council has adopted two regulations on storage and coordinated demand reduction measures for gas respectively . In September 2022, the Council agreed on the Commission proposal for a “Regulation on an emergency intervention to address high energy prices”to alleviate the impact of energy prices on the EU’s consumers, while also addressing the unprecedented volatility and uncertainty in EU and global energy markets. In particular, this intervention includes a reduction of electricity consumption, a revenue cap for inframarginal power generation, and a temporary, mandatory, solidarity contribution from fossil fuel companies.

Delivering on the REPowerEU objectives will require an additional cumulative investment of EUR 210 billion between now and 2027 in addition to the investment already needed to reach climate neutrality by 2050. This investment will support the massive scaling-up and speeding-up of the deployment of clean energy technologies (e.g. solar photovoltaic, wind, heat pumps, energy saving technologies, biomethane and renewable hydrogen), which is of critical importance to face the double energy and climate urgency. Overcoming the related technological and non-technological challenges will also require a strong and competitive EU clean energy sector.

The REPowerEU plan confirmed the commitment to achieve the European Green Deal’s long-term goal of making the EU climate-neutral by 2050, and to fully implement the Fit for 55 package presented in July 2021. Delivering on the European Green Deal objectives will require the EU to develop, implement and scale-up innovative energy efficiency and renewable energies solutions. Half of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions expected by 2050 will require technologies that are not yet ready for the market, so research and innovation (R&I) activities are a crucial component to increase the EU’s technological sovereignty and global competitiveness.

Within this framework, and in line with previous editions, this third annual competitiveness progress report presents the current and projected state of play for different clean and low carbon energy technologies and solutions. It also maps the research, innovation and competitiveness aspects of the EU’s clean energy system as a whole.

The 2021 edition was important for the assessment of the COVID-19 economic recovery, because it highlighted how improvements in competitiveness can mitigate the pandemic’s economic and social impact in the short and medium terms.

This year’s report must take into account the EU’s call for the higher roll-out of clean energy technologies and the impact of the energy crisis on the sector. Against this backdrop, the report builds on available data to provide insights into ways of reinforcing EU’s competitiveness in strategic energy value chains, while also increasing the penetration of the EU’s clean energy technologies. At the same time, ongoing and fast-changing geopolitical, energy and climate developments mean that the most up-to-date quantitative data is not always able to reflect the unprecedented situation adequately. Therefore, this report focuses on progress made until the end of 2021, building on the consolidated data available until then. More recent data have been indicated when available and reliable. However, these are scarce and therefore cannot yet fully reflect the impact of the current energy crisis on the competitiveness of clean energy technologies. Wherever possible, and in order to take into account the recent challenges faced by the clean energy sector and their impact on it, the analysis builds on the already visible implications and qualitative assessments for the year 2022; however the full impact can only be assessed in next year’s progress report.

Competitiveness is a complex and multifaceted concept which cannot be defined by a single indicator. This report therefore assesses the competitiveness of the EU’s clean energy system as a whole (Section 2), and of specific clean energy technologies and solutions (Section 3) by analysing a defined set of indicators (Annex I). As of this year, the Commission’s Clean Energy Technology Observatory (CETO) will carry out the in-depth evidence-based analysis underpinning this report. 

This report is published in accordance with Article 35(1)(m) of the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action and accompanies the State of the Energy Union report.