EC ponders ending priority dispatch for renewables - report

The European Commission (EC) is considering four scenarios for lifting the “priority dispatch” status of renewables when it comes to feeding electricity to European grids, the Guardian said, quoting leaked documents.

In an attempt to increase the flexibility and cost-competitiveness of European energy producers, the commission is mulling removing renewables’ priority over traditional sources on power grids even though this could raise carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by up to 10%, the newspaper said.

Unnamed industry sources have told the Guardian that this possibility is highly likely. A spokesman for the WindEurope trade association said, as cited by the paper, that this would be detrimental to the wind sector.

“By prioritising fossil fuel power plants, we will lose any possibility of achieving climate goals in Europe and globally," Milan Nitzschke, president of solar organisation EU ProSun, said in a statement. He added that such a move would result in uncertainty that, in turn, would obstruct further investments in renewables.

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