Guidance on renewable enery subsidies

Renewables will soon be the subject of a new guidance that the EU Commission will publish in July. The paper will give advice on how to set up support schemes, how to fine-tune existing ones and how to phase out subsidies on technologies which have become mature. This guidance is expected to recommend a bi-annual review of the RES and will moreover facilitate the compliance with rules on state aid, due to be published in revised form next year. 

In accordance with a consultation document on revising the state aid rules, the nuclear sector could largely benefit from this update. It is based on a guideline from 2012, stating that any subsidies for nuclear should be based on sound assessment if market failures justify an intervention, and it recommends the inclusion of external costs in transparent evaluation. In addition it says that the competition between the different energy sources should be fair through “consistent application of the state aid principles”.

Source: ENDS Daily 22 April 2013

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