RECS International publishes open letter to Oettinger

In response to an interview with EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, RECS International has published an open letter to discuss cost-efficient methods for future support schemes.

In the interview Oettinger states the need for a real solution to decrease Europe’s electricity prices.  He mentioned that the implementation of new PV in Germany should be slowed or stopped until such time that an electricity storage, or better distribution net, is a possibility.  It was implied that this would be preferable to having a large amount of back-up capacity and even that cross-border cooperation should be prioritized to meet this need.

RECS International has long prioritized cross-border cooperation for the implementation of new renewables.  In the opinion of RECS International the rising cost of electricity is, at least in part, connected to the high price of some national support schemes.  RECS promotes market-based support solutions that involve governments setting the volumes for renewables growth and the market reacting by creating the additional price needed for the new investment.  This is sometimes the reverse of current support schemes where prices are set by the government and the market responds by creating, or not creating, additional renewables volumes.  These two types of support systems can be seen in the Swedish quota system and the German feed-in scheme.  

RECS International has compared these two systems in the published, open letter to Oettinger. The letter discusses possible alternative support schemes that are more cost-efficient and competitive than existing national schemes.

The interview with Oettinger in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung can be seen here (Warning: German language)

The open letter from RECS International can be seen here