Abstract
In recent years, the renewable energy sources (RES) have grown in importance in the energy system of the EU and in the world; it is expected they will grow more and more in importance in the near future. Since the costs of RES technologies are still higher than the technologies derived from fossil fuels, RES are in need of regulatory intervention. There is still uncertainty on the part of political authorities in relation to the type of policy to better manage the evolution of technologies in the RES market. The support mechanism for RES can be divided into price oriented and market oriented. The focus of this chapter is to analyze the RES support mechanisms among the new EU guidelines on state aid for environmental protection and energy 2014–2020 and in particular the transition from some tools (i.e., feed-in tariffs) to others (i.e., feed-in premium) in order to spur the development of RES. We evaluate the “success” of such instruments in relation to adaptation to the times: while feed-in tariffs can fulfill a variety of policy goals, feed-in premium can reach other objectives. We evaluate the effect of RES support mechanisms in relation to the market structure.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aghion P, Bloom N, Blundell R, Griffith R, Howitt P (2005) Competition and innovation: an inverted-U relationship. Q J Econ 120(2):701–728
Arrow KJ (1962) The economic implications of learning by doing. Rev Econ Studies 29(3):155–173
Azevedo I, Jaramillio P, Rubina E, Yehb S (2013) Technology learning curves and the future cost of electric power generation technology. Paper presented at the 18th Annual Energy and Climate Change Research Seminar, Electric Power Research Institute, Washington, DC, 22 May 2013
Council of European Energy Regulators (2013) Status review of renewable energy and energy efficiency support schemes. C12-SDE-33-03
Couture TD, Cory K, Kreycik C, Williams E (2010) A policymaker’s guide to feed-in tariff policy design. National Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Technical Report NREL/TP-6A2-44849
Delbono F, Denicolo V (1991) Incentives to innovate in a cournot oligopoly. Q J Econ 106(3):951–961 (Published by: Oxford University, No. 3 (Aug., 1991)
European Commission (1997) Communication (1997) 599 final on energy for the future: renewable sources of energy. White Paper for a Community strategy and action plan
European Commission (2013) Communication staff working document SWD (2013) 440 final on guidance on the use of renewable energy cooperation mechanism
European Commission (2001) Directive 2001/77/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2001 on the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources in the internal electricity market. Off J Eur Union L 283:33–40
European Commission (2003) Directive 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003 restructuring the community framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity. Off J Eur Union L 283:51–70
European Commission (2014) IP/14/400 State aid: Commission adopts new rules on public support for environmental protection and energy
European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) (2014) Costs of renewable energy sources (RES). EREC Factsheet
Grübler A, Nakićenović N, Victor DG (1999) Dynamics of energy technologies and global change. Energy Policy 27(5):247–280
Hayward JA, Graham PW, Campbell PK (2011) Projections of the future costs of electricity generation technologies. CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship, Newcastle
Held A, Haas R, Ragwitz M (2006) On the success of policy strategies for the promotion of electricity from renewable energy sources in the EU. Energy Environ 17(6):849–868
Lee T, Wilde L (1980) Market structure and innovation: a reformulation. Q J Econ 94(2):429–436
McDonald A, Schrattenholzer L (2001) Learning rates for energy technologies. Energy Policy 29(4)255–261
Montgomery F (1943) Increased productivity in the construction of liberty vessels. Mon Labor Rev 57(5):861–864
Reichenbach J, Requate T (2012) Subsidies for renewable energies in the presence of learning effects and market power. Resour Energy Econ 34(2):236–254
Wright TP (1936) Factors affecting the cost of airplanes. J Aeronaut Sci 3:122–138
Yelle LE (1979) The learning curve: historical review and comprehensive survey. Decis Sci 10(2):302–328
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bigerna, S., Bollino, C., Micheli, S. (2015). Policies for the development of RES in the European Union. In: The Sustainability of Renewable Energy in Europe. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12343-1_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12343-1_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-12342-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-12343-1
eBook Packages: EnergyEnergy (R0)