Weisweiler coal-fired power plant in Germany with nearby wind turbines. A simultaneous coal phaseout and renewables ramp-up will require enhanced grid investments as well as a clear regulatory framework to provide certainty, European energy leaders said. Source: RWE AG

Getting economies aligned with the EU's 55% emissions-reduction target for 2030 will be a multisector juggle in which no single ball can drop, policymakers and energy leaders said at the Eurelectric Power Summit on May 25. While growing the renewables fleet is a key component, it is far from being the only solution.

"We are talking about a complete transformation of the way we use and produce energy," Hans van Steen, an adviser in the European Commission's directorate-general for energy, said at the virtual conference, organized by the European power sector's main trade group.

For renewables, which currently make up around 30% of the bloc's power mix, deployment needs to be accelerated toward a 40% share in order for the target to be met, van Steen said.

The system will need 500 GW of new renewables by 2030, Eurelectric Secretary General Kristian Ruby said, and key roadblocks have not yet been removed. On top of much-discussed challenges around permitting and social acceptance, investments in transmission infrastructure will be crucial.

"Networks are the backbone of the energy transition, but some countries are limiting investments in power grids," Iberdrola SA CEO Ignacio Galán said, adding that fierce international competition for capital will see countries with weaker regulatory support for renewables lose out. "Tomorrow will be too late. We need to move from nice words into action," Galán said.

Fortum Oyj CEO Markus Rauramo echoed the need for grid investments. "Renewables will not be produced in the same places where current coal power plants are located," he said. Beyond that, investments will require predictability. "We need to have a roadmap; what does the system look like in 10 years?"

Intermittency, an inherent byproduct of a system with a large share of renewables, could be buffered by the scale-up of clean gases such as hydrogen, which are expected to reach cost parity with fossil gases by 2030, Rauramo said. He added that increased regulatory pressure such as a tightening of requirements through the Emissions Trading System, the EU's carbon market, could catalyze further investments and technological progress.

The European Commission is already looking at the ETS and how it can be extended into new sectors not currently obliged to buy credits, van Steen said.

Permitting still a problem

While political momentum is swinging increasingly toward decarbonization, willingness to live near the necessary infrastructure, chiefly wind farms, is not keeping up, Eurelectric's Ruby said. Permitting delays are compounding the hurdles, he added. "It takes two, three months to build [a project] but you're waiting six years to get it done."

The commission's van Steen described the involvement of citizens as a key contributor to growing the bloc's renewables capacity. "You cannot stream-roll the energy transition through. Citizens who are affected need to be engaged," he said.

Aside from growing the supply of clean energy, the success of the 55% emissions cut will crucially require more efficient energy usage, van Steen said. Calling it a "prerequisite" for achieving the target, the policymaker described an intense focus on energy efficiency policy, starting with public buildings.

"It is so important, because otherwise [the 55%] is simply not going to happen. ... It's an illusion to think that all these nice clean, green technologies will bring us there, so we can continue using energy the way are now," he said.