The European Parliament has adopted the EU electricity market reform, which aims to make the EU power market more stable, sustainable, and cheap.
The reform will seek to protect consumers from unstable electricity prices by providing them with information on fixed-price contracts or dynamic price contracts that they can sign, as well as prohibiting suppliers from unilaterally changing the terms of a contract and cutting off vulnerable customers’ electricity supply, including during customer disputes.
Contracts for Difference (CfD) will be permitted in all investments in new power generation, whether from renewable or nuclear sources. Finally, the European Union may declare a regional or EU-wide power price crisis, allowing EU members to impose temporary electricity price controls for energy-intensive industrial users and SMEs.
In addition, the Parliament has adopted measures for a more sustainable and resilient EU gas market, with the goal of decarbonising the EU’s energy sector by increasing the production and integration of renewable gases and hydrogen, as well as improving energy supply security.
The changes would enhance systems for fair pricing and steady energy supplies, while also allowing member states to limit gas imports from Russia and Belarus. They will also implement a common gas purchasing mechanism to eliminate member state competition, as well as a five-year pilot project to strengthen the EU’s hydrogen market.
Source: Energy Ghana