Page 5 - European Energy Innovation - Winter 2016 publication
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Winter 2016 European Energy Innovation 5
FOREWORD
The publishers of European Energy Foreword
Innovation would like to offer their
sincere thanks to all individuals and Welcome to the Winter edition of the magazine: the time of year when it is
organisations who have contributed traditional to look back at what has happened over the past twelve months;
editorial images photos and illustrations and to try and foretell what the next twelve will bring. June’s Brexit vote and
to the magazine. Whilst every effort subsequent events in Italy, France, Germany and Holland (to name but a few)
has been made to ensure accuracy promise uncertainty. So, too does the developing migrant situation in Turkey,
of the content, the publishers of with its attendant misery and its political grandstanding. Mix in a little economic
European Energy Innovation accept no uncertainty, Russian ambivalence; and the gathering humanitarian crisis in Syria.
responsibility for errors or omissions. Add the not inconsiderable threat posed by AGW to the Polar Ice Caps and
perhaps November’s launch of the Commission’s long-awaited Winter Package
The contents of European Energy represents one bright spot in all the gloom. You are, of course, reading
Innovation are protected by copyright. another one!
All rights reserved. How many times have we heard the phrase “the wind doesn’t always blow and
the sun doesn’t always shine”? Perhaps the biggest issue faced by RE is this
European Energy Innovation is unpredictability. In that light, an excellent (and positive) article from Francesco
published by: Battiglio reviews the Winter Package from an electricity storage perspective,
Prologue Media Ltd concluding that it is taking the right steps to create the right market conditions
1a Shire Lane for advanced batteries. He notes that incorporation of energy storage can halve
Chorleywood the reliance of a household upon grid-supplied electricity. Echoing this theme,
Hertfordshire WD3 5NQ Arnulf Jäger-Waldau explores the principal means by which self-consumption of
United Kingdom electricity can be increased: using smart systems to operate higher demand items
(such as tumble driers) when the sun is shining; and storing excess electricity to
Tel: +44 1923 286238 smooth out the peaks and troughs in supply and demand. Going on to examine
www.europeanenergyinnovation.eu the economics of residential PV systems in more detail, he concludes that
battery storage will grow strongly; and that within five years, PV electricity will
To obtain additional copies please email be the lowest cost electricity option for more than half of Europeans. Hans ten
info@europeanenergyinnovation.eu Berge goes further, exploring the potential offered by smart metering. Noting
the obvious benefits for consumers of the availability of more information with
EDITOR which to manage their electricity demand, he suggests that rollout across Europe
Michael Edmund has been somewhat patchy, principally because of interoperability issues and
editor@europeanenergyinnovation.eu concerns over data privacy; this, he concludes, is a crucial issue.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Paloma López Bermejo MEP writes thoughtfully about the role of the market in
Philip Beausire Energy Savings, noting how much European dependence on energy imports
philip@europeanenergyinnovation.eu impedes the ability to deliver on the 2020 strategy. She makes the important
point that trading systems must be engineered to reward energy efficiency,
HEAD OF BRUSSELS OFFICE perhaps as part of larger cultural change, but that doing so is inherently
Sophia Silvert contradictory.
Mob: +32 4737 30322
sophia@europeanenergyinnovation.eu Another important element of Europe’s RE strategy to receive attention in this
issue is Bioenergy. Silvia Vivarelli, Emilio Font de Mora, and Pat Howes examine
DESIGN & PRODUCTION how almost €50 million has been spent on supporting its market uptake; money
RayHeathDesign.co.uk that, by June had realised 1.65 Mtoe of bioenergy and saved 5.7 Mt of carbon
dioxide emissions, according to EASME. Perhaps crucially, in the context of the
WEBSITE DESIGN Winter Package and its market-oriented measures, the money had generated a
pulseart.co.uk €0.9 billion return on the investment. Saving money and saving the planet: bright
hopes, indeed.
PRINT
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Michael Edmund
www.europeanenergyinnovation.eu Editor
