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European Electricity Industry Market Assessment 2007
Key Note Publications Ltd, July 2007, Pages: 122
This report analyses the electricity industry in the EU and describes the progress being made towards a totally liberated EU electricity market. The aim of this liberation is to give all electricity users a choice of supplier in all member states through two main stages: first, the opening up of the market for large users; and, second, the opening up of the market to enable all householders to have a choice of supplier. Progress is uneven, with some countries being ahead of schedule and others struggling to meet the final date of 1st July 2007 for the opening of the market to households. Forming a completely open market has been made more difficult by the addition to the EU of ten new states in 2004 and a further two in January 2007. Most of these new members had long-established state-controlled electricity industries that required restructuring to comply with the requirements of the EU market.
Development of the open market is being driven by EU legislation that requires the separation of power generation, transmission, distribution and supply to prevent large companies having an undue influence from one sector of the market to another.
A country-by-country analysis of the EU electricity market, including an account of market structure, electricity demand, production and generation statistics, and profiles of major players in each country, is provided in this report. As well as discussing key issues relating to full and fair market opening, this report examines the competitive position held by major companies in the EU. In some countries, there are some very powerful companies, which can allow little room for the entry of new players.
The report examines current issues relating to the completion of the EU internal electricity market. Although many aspects of the market are in place, action still needs to be taken, e.g. to unbundle the key activities of major players, to develop greater uniformity of regulation at national level, to provide greater network access and to reduce power congestion. As already noted, another major concern is the continuing dominant influence of large companies in some national markets. Climate change demands attention due to the `greenhouse gas' emissions of the traditional fossil fuels used in electricity generation. Climate change is now a major issue for power generators.
The successful future development of the EU electricity market will depend on further work to enforce relevant legislation, improve co-ordination between transmission system operators (TSOs), reduce obstacles to competition and facilitate greater co-ordination between national regulators.
The security of primary energy sources for power generation is a fundamental matter for the future. Gas is becoming increasingly important for the electricity industry, but this is a fuel that produces carbon emissions. Because much of the EU's nuclear power plant is being scheduled for decommissioning, discussions are taking place regarding the future primary energy mix for power generation. It is unlikely that renewable energy will be able to replace a substantial decline in nuclear power capacity — a situation that is stimulating an interest in new nuclear power plant (which also has near-zero carbon emissions). However, due consideration has to be given to the safety issues associated with nuclear power.
The report concludes with forecasts for electricity demand in the EU over the period to 2030.
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