The European Green Deal - a chance to foster the further integration of renewable energies into the European energy system ?

Abstract

This master thesis investigates whether the systemic approach of the European Green Deal (EGD) is beneficial to address the different challenges for the further integration of renewable energies (RE) into the European energy system. To prepare the terrain, the thesis gives an overview of the situation of RE in the EU and the development of European RE policies. The analysis is based on two steps: firstly, the thesis identifies the most important challenges for an increase in RE based on an academic literature review, on 12 interviews with officials of the European Commission, and on the attendance of six webinars, where Commission members, interest groups as well as experts discussed the energy transition. This working methodology has allowed identifying 22 challenges for the increase of RE in the European energy system. In a second step, the EGD and all its sub-initiatives adopted by the European Commission up to 31st of July 2020, and the proposed recovery instrument addressing the Covid-19 crisis are evaluated with respect to the question whether the identified challenges are addressed. Information gathered during the interviews have a supportive function. In both steps of the analysis, ‘energy system integration’ and ‘renewable hydrogen’ are treated in more detail, because the integration of the energy system and the deployment of renewable hydrogen are generally considered crucial for the increase of RE, and because the European Commission adopted an ‘energy system integration strategy’ and a ‘hydrogen strategy’ in July 2020. As a result of this analysis, it appears that most challenges are addressed by the EGD, or if not addressed by initiatives the European Commission is conscious of possible risks. Nevertheless, land use competition and the supply of critical raw materials might become limiting factors for RE in the future, if not tackled more thoroughly. Nonetheless, the systemic approach of the EGD has demonstrated to be beneficial to address challenges that would be difficult to overcome through mere RE policies and the recovery measures are designed to support the energy transition.