Nucleareurope calls for technology neutral electricity market design

Brussels, 14 February 2023: Nucleareurope has this week outlined its priorities for how to best review the existing European electricity market.  These include adopting a technology neutral approach, valuing long-term security of supply and support for a range of market instruments.   

“Europe needs an electricity market which is designed to ensure security of supply and affordable energy prices” states Yves Desbazeille, nucleareurope Director General. “It also has to support those sources which are going to help us reach ambitious decarbonisation targets. It is against this backdrop that we have put forward three concrete proposals.” 

In its position paper nucleareurope has focused on the following: 

1. Ensuring a technology neutral electricity market.  As it stands today, the market is geared towards specific technologies.  Our proposal is therefore to focus on goals (decarbonisation, security of supply and affordability), rather than on specific technologies.  
2. Valuing long-term security of supply. A diversified energy mix can make a country more resilient to disruptions in the supply and cost of fuels, raw materials and components.  In addition, the market needs to support technologies which are available 24/7 and have a long lifespan.   
3. Supporting a range of market instruments.  Power Purchase Agreements can be a useful tool, but they need to support all relevant technologies and their duration should be more closely aligned to the design life of the technology which they support.  Other market instruments which should also be considered include two-way contracts for difference, the Mankala model used in Finland and the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model used in UK  

“What is clear is that once the EU has identified the most appropriate market instruments, these are implemented as quickly as possible, given the urgency” adds Mr Desbazeille.   

 More information: Position Paper 

About us: nucleareurope is the Brussels-based trade association for the nuclear energy industry in Europe. The membership of nucleareurope is made up of 15 national nuclear associations and through these associations, nucleareurope represents nearly 3,000 European companies working in the industry and supporting around 1,100,000 jobs. 

For more information, please contact Jessica Johnson: jessica.johnson@nucleareurope.eu