Energy Transition

Why governments should take a light touch designing tomorrow's energy market

We need energy policy that limits interference and supports businesses in increasing capacity and flexibility.

We need energy policy that limits interference and supports businesses in increasing capacity and flexibility. Image: Getty Images

Thomas Birr
Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, E.ON
Share:
Our Impact
What's the World Economic Forum doing to accelerate action on Energy Transition?
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Energy Transition is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:

Energy Transition

This article is part of: Centre for Energy and Materials

Listen to the article

  • Governments are taking the lead in shaping energy markets in response to recent volatility and the decarbonization challenge.
  • They should work with market participants in creating a framework for modernization.
  • Policy should empower energy businesses to build green generation capacity and increase market flexibility.

"The state can be … [a] source of mischief and disaster,” Ludwig von Mises, one of history’s most progressive thinkers on market liberalism, once said. The Austrian School economist (1881-1973) argued that when governments start to interfere with market mechanisms, it becomes impossible for them to stop – inevitably leading to endless regulatory tweaks and measures to keep the economy intact.

Now, in an era of dramatic global change, when European energy is becoming less ruled by free markets, it may be time to revisit von Mises. The war in Ukraine’s effects on global political and economic stability has resulted in unprecedented energy price volatility and undermined energy security. On top of that, there is another threat impossible to ignore: climate change and the urgent need to decarbonize.

European politicians are currently grappling with designing the energy market according to these new challenges. As governments have taken the lead in designing future market rules for power and gas, they are also taking the lead in running energy companies too. The German government’s takeover of energy company Uniper and reported negotiations to take over grid operator TenneT, as well as rising stakes in other transmission system operators (TSOs), are examples.

Have you read?

    Governments and regulators must find new ways to work with market participants to design a market frame that supports tomorrow’s energy infrastructure. This new design must integrate renewable energy successfully, keep the lights on with appropriate price signals for backup, storage, and flexibility, and maximize market mechanisms to drive those targets. Overbearing market intervention, and the red tape it poses, threaten to slow progress and innovation at a most crucial time.

    Enhancing, modernizing and digitizing grids are critical to integrating renewables – and therefore, a successful energy transition. We need an energy market where the wholesale price of fossil fuels does not hold us back. This requires a massive shift to enabling utilities to build smart grids without interruption to provide abundant, “free” energy sources like the wind and sun.

    To reach the target for the EU’s Climate Action Plan, and an 80% share of total fossil fuel-free generation by 2030, we urgently need policy that deliberately restricts interference and supports energy businesses in increasing capacity and flexibility, such as:

    • Quick-starting peaker plants – ready for green fuels upon sufficient availability
    • Large-scale power-storage deployed at mid-voltage level upwards
    • Improved distribution grid asset bases to accumulate soaring electrification and grid digitization

    Policy must support the development of CO2-free flexibility, backup and storage to secure overall energy affordability. The war in Ukraine has triggered serious supply chain disruptions and increased competition for transition-critical raw materials and resources, such as nickel for EV batteries and aluminium for solar panels. Decarbonizing European energy will require substantial private investment, which must be stimulated by trust and security, and sound, long-term returns. Simultaneously, public funding for renewables through symmetrical contracts for difference (CfDs), as well as power purchase agreements (PPAs), can help sustain market liquidity.

    To successfully meet current challenges, the energy industry must be empowered by policy-makers to take the lead in shaping market design. What energy businesses need is a policy groundwork that is informed and conscious of new market conditions. Policy shaping the future of Europe’s energy markets must be far-reaching, but not heavily interventionist. What’s needed is a light touch, cooperative dialogue among market participants, attentive listening and a deep understanding of energy businesses and their present challenges. Politicians must refrain from attempting to “run the markets” themselves. They should support a framework that entrusts utilities to accelerate flexibility solutions and green generation capacity – by attracting newbuilds and investment and keeping markets liquid and competitive.

    Overall, the liberalization of Europe’s energy markets is a success story. Huge gains in cross-border trade, improved efficiency and the significant growth of renewables are proof. Now, after almost a generation, this model must transition. We need an energy market design that operates by the same core principles of market liberalism that defined Ludwig von Mises’s work.

    Discover

    What's the World Economic Forum doing about the transition to clean energy?

    The current situation brings many challenges requiring urgent responses. Governments and regulators need to get out of reactive mode and use policy as a tool to design tomorrow’s markets in cooperation with market participants. Energy security, net zero and space for innovation: The right policies have the power to deliver it all.

    Loading...
    Don't miss any update on this topic

    Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

    Sign up for free

    License and Republishing

    World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

    The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

    Related topics:
    Energy TransitionNature and Biodiversity
    Share:
    World Economic Forum logo
    Global Agenda

    The Agenda Weekly

    A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

    Subscribe today

    You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

    Is distributed solar energy a game-changer for emerging economies?

    Azeem Azhar and Nathan Warren

    October 9, 2024

    About us

    Engage with us

    • Sign in
    • Partner with us
    • Become a member
    • Sign up for our press releases
    • Subscribe to our newsletters
    • Contact us

    Quick links

    Language editions

    Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

    Sitemap

    © 2024 World Economic Forum