A successful energy transition relies on three interconnected elements: renewables, flexibility, and electrification. Europe’s electrification ambition is a cornerstone of the EU’s pathway to climate neutrality and industrial competitiveness. Yet, electrification rates have stagnated at around 23%, despite the European Commission’s target to reach 32% by 2030. Achieving this goal requires decisive action across policy, financing, infrastructure, and public engagement.
SolarPower Europe welcomes the European Commission’s initiative to adopt an Electrification Action Plan and a Heating & Cooling Strategy, aimed at addressing the persistently low electrification rate in the European Union and the decarbonisation of the heating sector.
However, these communications should go beyond industry, targeting transport, residential heating, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and provide clear, actionable measures to remove barriers to electrification, and unlock deployment at scale.
Please see our full response in the following position paper and questionnaires.
Downloads
The Future is Electric: Delivering a Competitive and Secure Europe: SolarPower Europe Position Paper
Read here
Public Consultation Questionnaire on the Electrification Action Plan: SolarPower Europe Feedback
Read here
Public Consultation Questionnaire on the Heating & Cooling Strategy: SolarPower Europe Feedback
Read here
SolarPower Europe proposes the following recommendations:
Turn electrification ambition into measurable progress
- Electrification indicators should be integrated into National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), supported by a dedicated progress report to assess implementation, identify barriers, and incentivise acceleration.
Make electrification the affordable choice for all
- Mobilise targeted financing through instruments like the Industrial Decarbonisation Bank and Carbon Contracts for Difference to de-risk electrification investments.
- Make electricity the clear choice through fair taxation and subsidies as well as sustainable carbon pricing. This requires revising the Energy Taxation Directive to ensure a fair taxation of electricity relative to fossil fuels, and phasing out fossil fuel subsidies that distort markets.
- Support vulnerable consumers through social leasing.
Streamline grid access and permitting
- Unlock grid access for (flexible) electrified demand.
- Boost deployment through accelerated permitting and a more attractive regulatory framework for network investments.
Strengthen confidence in electrification technologies
- Expanding tripartite agreements to electrification technologies can align incentives, enhance deployment, and strengthen energy security across the Union.
- To ensure coherence and investment certainty, strong collaboration between governments, industry, grid operators, and energy suppliers is crucial.
Empower the workforce for electrification
- Ensure workers can handle system integration across electricity-related devices. The success of Europe’s electrification will depend on the availability of a qualified, adaptable, and mobile skilled workforce across the entire value chain.
- Develop an EU electrification-skills strategy. The Commission should adopt a comprehensive strategy linking solar PV competencies to skills for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, heat pumps, batteries, and energy-management systems.
- Leverage existing EU initiatives (e.g. Net-Zero Industry Academies) to coordinate action, avoid duplication, and ensure the rapid deployment of training opportunities across EU Member States.
- Establish a European Solar Skills Intelligence Hub. Hosted within the European Skills Intelligence Observatory, this Hub should consolidate and forecast workforce data across solar and related electrification sectors.
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