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Competition Policy

State aid to secure electricity supplies - sector inquiry

Individual State aid cases

The Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy (EEAG) 2014-2020 adopted in July 2014 for the first time contain criteria for the Commission to apply when assessing capacity mechanisms. A list of all cases adopted under the EEAG is given below, sorted by the year in which the latest decision on each scheme was adopted:

2014

2016

2017

2018

2019

2021

Sector inquiry

An increasing number of Member States are taking action to secure their electricity supplies and prevent potential black-outs by introducing capacity mechanisms.

Capacity mechanisms are measures taken by Member States to ensure that electricity supply can match demand in the medium and long term.

Capacity mechanisms are designed to support investment to fill the expected capacity gap and ensure security of supply. Typically, capacity mechanisms offer additional rewards to capacity providers, on top of income obtained by selling electricity on the market, in return for maintaining existing capacity or investing in new capacity needed to guarantee security of electricity supplies.

Capacity mechanisms have an impact on competition in the internal electricity market. Many of these mechanisms involve State aid, so they are subject to EU State aid rules. The European Commission has launched a sector inquiry, established a Working Group with Member States and started individual assessments of Member States' capacity mechanisms on the basis of the Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy 2014-2020 ("EEAG")

On 29 April 2015, the European Commission launched a State aid sector inquiry into national capacity mechanisms. The decision initiating the sector inquiry is available in three languages: en / fr / de

The inquiry aims at gathering information on capacity mechanisms to examine, in particular, whether they ensure sufficient electricity supply without distorting competition or trade in the EU Single Market. It complements the Commission's Energy Union Strategy to create a connected, integrated and secure energy market in Europe.

The European Commission on 13 April 2016 adopted its interim report consolidating the findings and tentative conclusions of the sector inquiry into capacity mechanisms.

The interim report (available in bg cs da de el en es et fi fr hr hu it lt lv mt nl pl pt ro sk sl sv).

The Staff Working Document accompanying the interim report is available in en
The press release that accompanied the interim report is available in all languages here.

The interim report was open for public consultation between 13 April 2016 and 6 July 2016

The Commission adopted the final report on the results of the sector inquiry on 30 November 2016

The final report (available in: bg cs da de el en es et fi fr hr hu it lt lv mt nl pl pt ro sk sl sv).

The Staff Working Document accompanying the final report is available in en

The press release that accompanied the final report is available in all languages here

Contact: COMP-CAPACITY-INQUIRYatec [dot] europa [dot] eu (COMP-CAPACITY-INQUIRY[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)

Working Groups with Member States

The Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy 2014-2020 (EEAG) contain for the first time rules to assess capacity mechanisms (Section 3.9 of the EEAG). As this is a relatively new field in State aid policy, the Commission has established a Working Group with Member States to help them implement the relevant provisions in the Guidelines and to share experience in the design of capacity mechanisms. The context of the discussions is reflected in thematic papers developed by the Commission (DG Competition). An overview of the different workshops can be found below, along with the papers and slides presented in each meeting.

First Working Group – 22 January 2015

Second Working Group – 14 April 2015

Third working Group - 30 June 2015

Fourth working Group - 15 June 2016

  • Discussion on the interim report of the sector inquiry
  • Discussion on cross border participation in capacity mechanisms

Conferences

28-09-2015: capacity mechanisms in Europe

With the support of DG Competition, King's College London and the College of Europe at Bruges organised on 29 September 2015 in Brussels the conference "Capacity mechanisms in Europe: The fundamental issues behind the ongoing sector inquiry". The conference provided a valuable input to the ongoing sector inquiry. For more details and the full programme click here .

The presentations are now available:

Keynote speech by Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition: "Securing electricity supply in the EU: How to optimise public support"

Session 1 - Which market design is more appropriate for Europe: energy only market or a given form of capacity mechanism?

Chairman: Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, Director DG Energy, European Commission

Speakers:
Jamie Carstairs, Linnfall Consulting, Edinburgh
Carlos Batlle, Comillas Pontifical University IIT, Madrid
Mike Hogan, Senior Adviser, The Regulatory Assistance Project, London
Fabien Roques, Partner CompassLexecon, Paris

Session 2: If a capacity mechanism, which design is most appropriate?

Chairman: Massimo Merola, President GCLC

Speakers:
Rickard Nilsson, Project manager, Nord Pool Spot
Robin Cohen, CRA Vice-President, London
Thomas Veyrenc, RTE Director, Markets department, Paris
Dan Monzani, Head of Security of electricity supply team, DECC, London
Andrea Villa, Senior Analyst in Energy & Regulatory Affairs, Enel S.p.A, Rome