Europe has faced a number of challenges which have tested the foundations of our energy system. COVID, the bumpy economic recovery, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the climate crisis – all of these have stressed the growing need to make our energy system more resilient.
Direct electrification via homegrown clean energy sources will drive Europe’s response to these challenges.
Building a resilient and competitive electricity-based energy system will empower consumers, create millions of jobs, and, with a nature-positive approach, help to protect and restore nature.
But Europe’s rate of electrification is stagnating at less than ¼ of all energy use. This means that while we are working hard to decarbonise electricity, large parts of the economy are still running on fossil fuels. If we are to have any hope of achieving our climate and energy policy, we need to ramp up electrification as quickly as possible.
We are calling for an Electrification Action Plan in the first 100 days of the upcoming mandate,
1. Set a target of 35% electrification of final energy use across the EU by 2030;
2. Add an electrification indicator to the National Energy and Climate Plans to measure progress;
3. Take concrete action to accelerate electrification:
a. planning for a grid infrastructure that enables climate neutrality;
b. equipping Europeans with the skills we need;
c. leveraging finance; and
d. empowering end-users.