On Tuesday 6 June, EPICO KlimaInnovation was invited by MEP Maria Graça Carvalho, EPP Shadow Rapporteur for the Electricity Market Design, and MEP Dr Markus Pieper to discuss key challenges of the electricity market design.
For over twenty years, the EU’s electricity market system has secured supplies, guaranteed affordable prices, and allowed the EU to embrace the decarbonisation process. However, throughout 2021 and 2022, EU energy prices rose considerably and became more volatile especially following Russia's war on Ukraine, which destabilised the global energy markets. Many consumers, both households and businesses, saw a significant increase in their energy bills.
This crisis prompted a wide range of emergency measures at both EU and national level to mitigate the impact. Still, the crisis shed light on several shortcomings in the market design, particularly how exposed consumers and industries are to energy price spikes. To address these shortcomings, the European Commission presented on 16 March a reform with the dual objective of securing European energy sovereignty and achieving climate neutrality.
The roundtable discussion discussed the question of two-sided CfDs as the new normal, capacity mechanisms, consumer rights, and how to ensure demand-side response is properly implemented by Member States.
