WindEurope and other trade groups have urged the UK and the EU to work towards a “common goal” of reaching zero emissions, following publication of EU and UK respective legal texts on a post-Brexit energy deal.
The trade groups, which also include the British and Irish Chamber of Commerce, European Federation of Energy Traders, Electricity Association of Ireland, Energy UK and Eurelectric, have jointly submitted several comments to help achieve a comprehensive deal on energy.
The trade groups said: “This agreement will form the basis for future cooperation between the UK and EU on energy, as we all head down a decarbonisation route that will see a rapid evolution of the sector. Linkages are needed both to preserve the functioning of current systems and to enable the evolution of future systems.”
The first area is carbon pricing. The trade group’s stated: “We welcome that both parties recognise the benefits of a UK ETS linked to the EU ETS.
“It should be agreed with urgency that this link will be negotiated, and further details and timing should be provided on the implementation of a linked ETS.
“We believe that this is the best arrangement possible to support deep decarbonisation of the traded sectors.”
The groups noted that both the EU and UK negotiators have shown “strong commitments” to collaboration and cooperation between regulators, system operators and other relevant stakeholders.
“Our organisations and our members continue to make the case that the UK should retain some form of participation in bodies such as, but not limited to, ENTSO-E, ENTSOG and ACER.
“We believe more work is needed on how this can be done to ensure that both the EU and the UK continue to benefit from each other’s expertise and can effectively collaborate on the required transition to a low carbon energy system,” stated the trade bodies.
On the island of Ireland the trade bodies highlighted that while the Northern Ireland Protocol protects the single electricity market (SEM) on the island of Ireland, it does not cover the trading between the SEM and Great Britain.
“This means that as it stands there are no arrangements in place to maintain the day-ahead market between GB and Ireland and no mechanisms to enable the collaboration of GB and SEM regulators on cross-border matters,” stated the groups.
The energy deal will need to “address these deficiencies” to ensure that Ireland continues to function according the IEM rules and to ensure that customers on the island of Ireland are not penalised with higher prices.
“The wind resources that can be activated in Ireland (on/offshore wind) are greater than are likely to be used in Ireland, so the decarbonisation of Europe overall is advanced by enabling integration and cooperation,” the groups said.
The groups also said they welcomed that both sides agree on the need and the benefits of efficient and cost-effective trading over interconnectors.
“Further details are needed on how this can be achieved with clear and transparent rules that do not discriminate. We would suggest that the framework presented in the UK legal text is more likely to achieve such an outcome,” they stated.
The trade bodies welcomed both negotiating parties remaining “fully committed” to the goals of the Paris Agreement and to their own domestic legislations and climate targets.
“We are confident that considering the commitments in law and from governments, reaching zero emissions by 2050 remains the priority,” said the groups.
Addressing offshore grid projects in the North Sea, the groups said it is a positive step that the EU and UK are “committing to continued collaboration”, but said, “further details are, however, needed”, with continuity ensured in order to avoid any delays to projects and the risk of diverging approaches on standards and rules.