Stefan Schleicher on the European Electricity Market. WIFO consultant Stefan Schleicher discussed the challenges of the electricity market in Europe at the EAA-Energy Talk.

Margit Schratzenstaller

WIFO consultant Stefan Schleicher at the EAA-Energy Talk (© Energie Allianz Austria/Ludwig Schedl).

27.12.2018

Stefan Schleicher on the European Electricity Market

WIFO consultant Stefan Schleicher discussed the challenges of the electricity market in Europe at the EAA-Energy Talk.

Europe's liberalised electricity market was discussed at the Energy Talk of the Energy Alliance Austria (EAA), in which WIFO consultant Stefan Schleicher participated. In a panel discussion with Christine Materazzi-Wagner (E-Control) and Christian Helmenstein (Federation of Austrian Industries) he discussed the challenges of the European electricity market and how free the European electricity market really is.

"The current situation on the electricity markets will continue to change", said Stefan Schleicher. In Austria, a factor of uncertainty is the politically motivated goal of providing 100 percent electricity from renewable sources by 2050. Schleicher also emphasised that disruptive changes were to be expected: new storage technologies could fundamentally change the current electricity structures. He also pointed out that the liberalisation concept implemented in the 1990s had failed for several reasons. For example, the idea of the European copper plate had never been realised; some countries, such as France, had never participated. Due to the unexpected boom in volatile renewable energies, a market concept based on merit orders and unbundling had simply lost its economic basis.