Promotion of Electricity from Renewable Energy in Europe Post 2020—The Economic Benefits of Cooperation

The availability of renewable energies differs significantly across European regions. Consequently, European cooperation in the deployment of renewable energy potentially yields substantial efficiency gains. However, for achieving the 2020 renewable energy targets, most countries purely rely on domestic production. In this paper, we analyze the benefits of cooperation compared to continuing with national renewable energy support after 2020. We use an optimization model of the European electricity system and find that compared to a 2030 CO₂-only target (−40 % compared to 1990), electricity system costs increase by 5 to 7 % when a European-wide renewable energy target for electricity generation (of 55 %) is additionally implemented. However, these additional costs are 41 to 45 % lower than the additional costs which would arise if the renewable energy target was reached through national support schemes (without cooperation). Furthermore, the cost reduction achieved by cooperation is quite robust with regard to assumptions about interconnector extensions and investment cost developments of renewable energy technologies. In practice, however, administrative issues and questions concerning the fair sharing of costs and benefits between the Member States represent major obstacles that need to be tackled in order to reach renewable energy targets at the lowest costs possible.