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The EU climate and energy policy landscape is characterized by a combination of instruments to achieve the EU 2020 and 2030 targets. In this paper, some of the most relevant interactions between RES-E support and a wide array of other climate and energy policies including the EU ETS, the Energy Taxation Directive and the Effort Sharing Directive in the European Union are assessed. A qualitative methodology is applied considering different assessment criteria such as effectiveness and efficiency of RES-E support and support costs but also distribution of costs between different stakeholder groups. Our analysis shows that, despite a common perception that interactions lead to conflicts, this is not really the case when the discussion is broadened and considers different assessment criteria. While adding one instrument or policy to another worsens one criterion, it usually improves another. Furthermore, the results of the interactions are not only specific to the policy, but also depend on the choice of instruments and design elements. ; The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the Intelligent Energy for Europe – Programme for the Towards2030-dialogue project in the context of which this work has been realised. ; Peer reviewed

Policy combinations and interactions have received a considerable attention in the energy policy realm. The aim of our working paper is to provide insight on the costeffectiveness of combinations of deployment instruments for the same technology. A financial model is developed for this purpose, whereby feed-in tariffs (FITs) and premiums (FIPs) are combined with investment subsidies and soft loans. The results show that combinin deployment instruments is not a cost-containment strategy. However, combinations may lead to different inter-temporal distributions of the same amount of policy costs which can affect the social acceptability and political feasibility of renewable energy support.

Multifaceted problems such as sustainable development typically involve complex arrangements of institutions and instruments and the subject of how best to design and operate such 'mixes', 'bundles' or 'portfolios' of policy tools is an ongoing issue in this area. One aspect of this question is that some mixes are more difficult to design and operate than others. The paper argues that, ceteris paribus, complex policy-making faces substantial risks of failure when horizontal or vertical dimensions of policy-making are not well integrated. The paper outlines a model of policy mix types which highlights the design problems associated with more complex arrangements and presents two case studies of similarly structured mixes in the areas of marine parks in Australia and coastal zone management in Europe—one a failure and the other a successful case of integration—to illustrate how such mixes can be better designed and managed more effectively. ; Peer reviewed

Peer reviewed ; © 2020 by the authors. Global warming represents a serious challenge, which requires the adoption of renewable energy technologies worldwide. However, it can negatively affect the availability of renewable energy resources, such as wind, which are needed for electricity generation. In this context, there is an increasing need for more accurate evaluations of wind turbine power curves. A novel methodology to model the power curves of wind turbines, which combines the use of artificial neural networks (ANN) and Fuzzy logic rules, is proposed in this paper. This methodology assesses the role of environmental temperature in the power curve and the impact of temperature increases on wind energy production. The application of this methodology is illustrated with the simulation of the impact of global warming on the electricity generation of a wind farm. Due to the non-linear relationship between the power output of a turbine and its primary and derived parameters, it is shown that ANN combined with an expert system formed by a Fuzzy logic module fit power curve modeling processes well. The application of the methodology shows that an increase in temperatures would trigger a small reduction in the performance of wind turbines.

Cooperation on Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in Europe is expected to contribute to energy and climate policy goals and bring multiple benefits at the national, regional and European levels. For this reason, the Cooperation Mechanisms of the RES Directive 2009/28/EC were originally designed to encourage the collaboration of countries and contribute to the achievement of the 2020 EU RES target in a cost-effective manner while providing Member States (MS) with flexibility to meet their national RES objectives. These mechanisms will allow MS to achieve their national RES target in cooperation with other MS and include statistical transfers, joint projects and joint support schemes. However, their use has been limited, leading to skepticism about their future use. The aim of this article is to identify the factors that influence MS decision to use the Cooperation Mechanisms and to rank their importance. The empirical analysis is based on a comprehensive, in-depth literature review and a dedicated survey to MS. Our results show that, indeed, a wide array of drivers and barriers have influenced and will influence the future use of the Cooperation Mechanisms. The main drivers and barriers in the past significantly differ to those influencing the future use. Furthermore, the perception of the relevance of the drivers and barriers by the MS differs depending on whether the countries have already met or are having difficulties to meet their 2020 RES target domestically and on whether they have actually used the Cooperation Mechanisms or not. Some policy implications on how to overcome the existing barriers to the use of those mechanisms are derived from the analysis. ; Peer reviewed

Retail electricity prices have substantially increased in the last decade in the European Union (EU) as a result of different regulations, raising the concern of policy makers. The growth in the support costs for electricity from renewable energy sources (RES-E) has often been singled out as a main driver of the increase in these prices. The aim of this paper is to analyse the degree of influence of RES-E promotion costs on the evolution of the retail price of electricity in the EU Member States. The analysis is carried out for households as well as for industry, with the help of a panel data econometric model. Our results show that the impact of renewable energy promotion costs on retail electricity prices is positive and statistically significant, although relatively small. Differences across consumer types can be observed. An increase of 1% in those costs induces an average increase of only 0.023% in industrial retail prices and 0.008% in the residential retail prices. This impact on retail prices is mediated by the type of support scheme which is adopted, with price-based support instruments showing a greater effect than quantity-based ones.

Retail electricity prices have substantially increased in the last decade in the European Union (EU) as a result of different regulations, raising the concern of policy makers. The growth in the support costs for electricity from renewable energy sources (RES-E) has often been singled out as a main driver of these prices. The aim of this paper is to analyse the degree of influence of RES-E promotion costs on the evolution of the retail price of electricity in the EU Member States. The analysis is carried out for households as well as for industry, with the help of a panel data econometric model. Our results show that the impact of renewable energy promotion costs on the retail electricity prices is positive and statistically significant, although relatively small. Differences across consumer types can be observed. An increase of 1% in those costs induces an average increase of only 0.023% in industrial retail prices and 0.008% in the residential retail prices. This impact on retail prices is mediated by the type of support scheme being adopted, with price-based support instruments showing a greater effect than quantity-based ones.

The large increase in renewable energy sources (RES-E) penetration in the European Union (EU) has raised the concern of policy makers about the costs of public promotion of RES-E, in spite of the commitment of the European Commission to the deployment of RES-E in the last years. ; This paper is focused on wind energy, because it is the renewable technology with the highest contribution to electricity mix in Europe (excluding hydro). ; An economic analysis of wind energy contribution should not only take into account the policy costs of the deployment, which are finally paid by electricity consumers, but also its benefits, particularly those related to climate change mitigation and the reduction of fossil fuel dependence distributed among citizens. The aim of this paper is to fill this gap and evaluate the policy costs and the most relevant benefits of wind energy deployment in the EU28 (28 Member States) using 2013 data. For this purpose, an innovated methodology internationally validated has been used. ; The results show that the benefits considered are relevant and should be taken into account when support costs are assessed and in the future development of energy policies in Europe. ; Peer reviewed

The energy sector is undeniably undergoing a critical period, faced with multiple challenges, whether economic, political or technological. These challenges are related to the requirements set on the sector to meet a wide range of social demands associated with the three traditional dimensions of a sustainable energy system, i.e., environmental sustainability, security of energy supply and economic sustainability. In particular, the environmental pillar has gained ground after the Paris Agreement, which has reinforced the requirement of a low-carbon transformation of the sector. A main challenge is to balance trade-offs among competing goals when designing energy and environmental policies. Although making the energy sector greener is a common aspiration of governments, and many countries are indeed being successful in this regard, the success comes at a price in terms of the other, non-environmental dimensions, of a sustainable energy system. The aim of this special issue is to look in detail on some of the most pressing environmental challenges faced by the energy sector as well as the trade-offs involved in reaching a greener energy system.

Issue 1: Dispatchable RES and flexibility in high RES penetration scenarios: solutions for further deployment . ; We investigate whether political ideology has an observable effect on decarbonization ambition, renewable power aims, and preferences for power system balancing technologies in four European countries. Based on the Energy Logics framework, we identify ideologically different transition strategies (state-centered, market-centered, grassroots-centered) contained in government policies and opposition party programs valid in 2019. We compare these policies and programs with citizen poll data. We find that ideology has a small effect: governments and political parties across the spectrum have similar, and relatively ambitious, decarbonization and renewables targets. This mirrors citizens' strong support for ambitious action regardless of their ideological self-description. However, whereas political positions on phasing out fossil fuel power are clear across the policy space, positions on phasing in new flexibility options to balance intermittent renewables are vague or non-existent. As parties and citizens agree on strong climate and renewable power aims, the policy ambition is likely to remain high, even if governments change. ; RT, PdR, CK, LLT, GE and YL have received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement 764626, MUSTEC project). JL has received funding from the European Research Council (Grant agreement 715132, TRIPOD project). ; Peer reviewed