Enabling a clean power system

The document argues that rapid deployment of clean flexibility—specifically battery storage, demand-side flexibility, and grids—is essential to avoid renewable energy curtailment and price cannibalisation in the EU. It recommends that Member States integrate clean flexibility into National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and national strategies before 2026, introduce curtailment caps for countries with over 50% renewable generation, and create local constraint markets. Additionally, it calls for legal frameworks that allow distributed flexibility sources to participate in energy markets, improved data transparency on network congestion and storage capacity, and the use of time-of-use tariffs to incentivise consumer participation while protecting low-income households.

• Rapid deployment of clean flexibility, particularly battery storage and demand-side flexibility, is necessary to manage minute and hourly demand-supply mismatches and prevent increased renewable energy curtailment and electricity price cannibalisation as wind and solar capacity grows.
• The EU should implement curtailment caps for countries where renewable generation exceeds 50% and establish local constraint markets at the distribution level to reduce the waste of clean energy.
• Member States need to develop national clean flexibility strategies before 2026 and include specific details in their National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) due in June 2024.
• Current energy market frameworks often hinder the participation of smaller, distributed flexibility sources; these should be updated, and capacity markets should be designed to promote clean flexibility, such as by lowering carbon caps in capacity mechanisms.
• To maximise efficiency, Member States and regulatory authorities should make data on network congestion, renewable curtailment, and energy storage capacity publicly available, while incentivising consumers through time-of-use tariffs.

APA

Petrovich, B., & Fox, H. (2024). Enabling a clean power system. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/04/Enabling-a-clean-power-system_-policy-recommendations.pdf

Chicago

Petrovich, Beatrice, and Harriet Fox. Enabling a clean power system. Ember, 2024. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/04/Enabling-a-clean-power-system_-policy-recommendations.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Petrovich |first1=Beatrice |last2=Fox |first2=Harriet |title=Enabling a clean power system |publisher=Ember |date=30 April 2024 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/04/Enabling-a-clean-power-system_-policy-recommendations.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{petrovich2024enabling, author = {Petrovich, Beatrice and Fox, Harriet}, title = {{Enabling a clean power system}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2024}, month = apr, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/04/Enabling-a-clean-power-system_-policy-recommendations.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }