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April 9, 2025
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Energy efficiency: the jack of all trades of EU electrification

By Arianna Vitali, Secretary General at the Coalition for Energy Savings, EUSEW’s partner organisation, highlighting the importance of energy efficiency in EU electrification, including cost savings, better grid flexibility, and protecting consumers.

It is no secret that for the EU to reach climate neutrality, the progressive electrification of our energy system will be essential – and with it, a sound strategy to achieve it in a cost-effective manner. With an Electrification Action Plan on the books for the new European Commission, it is crucial to ensure that the potential of energy efficiency to enable, accelerate, and lower the costs of EU electrification is not overlooked, but rather fully leveraged.

Energy efficiency and electrification: a match made in heaven

Shifting away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources will require accelerating the electrification of both energy production and end-uses. While we all agree that electrification boosts energy efficiency, it is important to remember that this relationship is a two-way street where energy efficiency also has something to offer to the EU electrification process.

Indeed, by reducing overall energy demand, energy efficiency can ease grid congestion, reduce the costs of electrifying the EU energy system, and stabilise the prices paid by consumers. In that vein, the European Commission recently stressed that combined action on electrification and energy efficiency can reduce the EU’s fossil fuel import bill by €32.5 billion every year by 2030 (representing 25% of the total savings that would result from implementing the Action Plan). With the top priorities for this mandate focusing on improving competitiveness and affordability, leveraging the joint potential of energy efficiency and electrification is more relevant than ever.

Flexibility is key

A resilient energy system starts with a flexible energy system. Beyond supporting the EU’s climate neutrality goal, reducing energy demand through demand-side measures eases stress on the grid, allows for more flexible consumption patterns, and ultimately ensures a more adaptable and resilient energy system. The evidence is there: by adopting ambitious demand-side measures (both efficiency and flexibility), peak demand can be reduced by up to 39% in 2030 compared to a scenario without such improvements. This, by extension, lowers the need for additional infrastructure, making the overall electrification process faster and more manageable.

Lowering costs, boosting affordability, and protecting citizens

Energy efficiency’s potential to reduce infrastructure costs, and therefore overall system costs, is significant. For instance, ambitious demand-side measures respectively lower total energy system costs and reduce annual investments in distribution grids by around €40 billion.

These saved costs, which will ultimately not be paid by businesses and citizens, contribute to energy affordability by keeping electricity prices in check, helping European industries decarbonise while improving their competitiveness.

Finally, energy efficiency measures would also cut energy costs for households, helping to protect the most vulnerable. With ambitious demand-side measures, households could save significantly on their annual energy bills. Annual average household energy spending could go down to €900 by 2030, a considerable drop from today’s average of €1,190. This proves particularly useful for heating and road transport, which are expected to increase fossil fuel prices.

Time to put energy efficiency first

The EU transition towards decarbonisation and electrification of the energy system will require careful planning and substantial investment. Luckily, the EU has a jack of all trades on hand. With its wide range of benefits, from reducing infrastructure needs and costs, increasing energy security, cutting energy bills, and supporting both businesses and vulnerable citizens, energy efficiency offers readily available solutions to many of the challenges ahead and must be prioritised.

As stressed in the Action Plan for Affordable Energy, the EU needs a ‘decarbonised energy system, driven by a substantial scale-up of clean energy and electrification, with energy efficiency at its centre’. Prioritising the implementation of energy efficiency solutions on the ground will be key to building an affordable, secure, and competitive energy system for the future.

This opinion editorial is produced in co-operation with the European Sustainable Energy Week 2025. See ec.europa.eu/eusew for more details.

Disclaimer: This article is a contribution from a partner. All rights reserved.

Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use that might be made of the information in the article. The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and should not be considered as representative of the European Commission’s official position.

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April 9, 2025
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Romanian town Beiuș to boost geothermal distring heating to 100%

The local authority in Beiuș, a trailblazer in geothermal district heating in Romania, should apply for European funding to cover the entire area, according to a new study. The town already has the cheapest energy in the country.

Beiuș is the only town in Romania where geothermal energy accounts for more than 70% of the district heating of homes, institutions and firms. A new technical study is opening the way to a system upgrade by using European grants, state news agency Agerpres reported.

The project was funded by Innovation Norway, a state-owned development bank based in Oslo. Mayor of Beiuș Gabriel Popa said at a presentation marking its completion that his municipality aims to achieve 100% coverage. Iceland managed the endeavor and a company from the island country conducted the study on the geology of the local geothermal water reservoir.

The research covered possibilities to prevent losses in the geothermal district heating system. Beiuș, in Bihor county in northwestern Romania, has just under 10,000 inhabitants.

According to the authors, European development programs are accessible. A new guide is under public consultation.

Dozens of local authorities including capital Bucharest are developing geothermal heating projects.

EEA funding available to get full coverage

The speakers at the conference presented prospects for development using subsidies from the European Economic Area (EEA). The region consists of European Union member states and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Engineer Horia Ban said heat pumps could save 30% to 50% of the energy of the water returned from the geothermal district heating system. He is the head of the Oradea-based SRG association, which promotes heat pump solutions for geothermal heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), and of local renewable energy company Termoline.

The European Commission and European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) funded complementary research into air conditioning from geothermal wastewater.

Agriculture can tap water from geothermal district heating system in Beiuș

To lower the losses, the study’s authors recommend insulated PE-Xa pipes and directing the exit flow from the geothermal district heating system to greenhouses, wood dryers and fish farms.

Transgex, based in the county’s capital Oradea, supplies the geothermal water in Beiuș. The reservoir was discovered in 1996 at a depth of 2.6 kilometers. The temperature is 85 degrees Celsius.

The prefeasibility study was funded in 2017 in partnership with Iceland, through EEA Grants. Beiuș is now a town with the cheapest energy in Romania, the article adds.

An EU project worth EUR 33.6 million began a year ago for the construction of an aquapark. It envisages a facility with eight outdoor pools of 6,691 square meters overall in Beiuș. The grant amounts to EUR 12.5 million.

Looking at entire Southeastern Europe, Turkey sticks out as one of the main global players in geothermal energy including power plants, a more complex technology. The potential in Romania and Greece is among the highest in the EU. Bulgaria is also working with EEA funds. Serbia only has small projects for now.

Croatia hosts one geothermal power plant, though is currently offline due to an ownership dispute. Numerous municipal and private projects are underway.

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April 9, 2025
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4 GW of solar, wind projects in pipeline in Montenegro – minister

Montenegro has solar and wind projects in the pipeline with a total capacity of 4,000 MW, according to Admir Šahmanović, Minister of Mining, Oil and Gas and the Coordinator of the Ministry of Energy.

Speaking at the Economic Dialogue Montenegro-Italy round table, minister Admir Šahmanović called for stronger cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector.

Montenegro offers exceptional opportunities for investors, especially in the field of renewable energy sources, Šahmanović added. Of note, he will be one of the key speakers at the Belgrade Energy Forum conference on May 14 and 15.

The planned solar power plants and wind farms would increase the country’s production capacity from the current 1 GW to 5 GW, representing a huge potential for the energy transition and long-term supply stability, he pointed out.

A second line within the underwater power link with Italy would further increase energy security

The minister also stressed the importance of expanding the power interconnection with Italy with a second line of the subsea link. The project would further increase the transmission capacity and ensure even greater energy security, he underlined.

Since 2019, the underwater cable has been enabling stable transmission of electricity between the Balkans and the European Union. In the minister’s words, the second line would further strengthen energy security and increase the use of renewable energy sources in the region.

Photo: Government of Montenegro

In addition to renewables, Šahmanović sees the mining sector as another opportunity for cooperation. A more detailed analysis of existing resources is needed, he said and added that Montenegro has valuable mineral resources that must be used with the implementation of sustainability standards.

The country needs strategic partners to modernize the sector while implementing the highest environmental standards, Šahmanović pointed out.

The round table was organized by the Embassy of Italy and the Italian Trade Agency (ICE), in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro.

Ambassador of Italy Andreana Marcella said the event was a result of earlier talks between the governments of the two countries. She expects the final B2B and B2G meetings to bring concrete results in the energy, agriculture, and infrastructure sections.

According to ICE manager Antonio Ventresca, the round table marks the beginning of long-term cooperation. The event was also attended by the Montenegrin ministers of ecology and tourism Damjan Ćulafić and Simonida Kordić, respectively.

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April 8, 2025
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Share of coal power in Finland nearly zero as cogeneration plant shuts down

Helsinki’s municipal energy company Helen closed its last coal facility. Together with the country’s remaining plants that use the solid fossil fuel, Salmisaari accounted for just 0.8% of the electricity mix in 2024. The Government of Finland earlier set May 1, 2029, as the coal exit date.

Two years ago, the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor of 1.6 GW, the strongest in Europe, entered commercial operation. Apparently it helped the energy system of Finland to almost eliminate coal from the board. Helen, controlled by the local authority of the capital Helsinki, closed its Hanasaari B plant in 2023, leaving the Salmisaari combined heat and power (CHP) facility as the only one using coal. This week the company shut it down.

Finland is now using neglectable quantities of coal. Salmisaari has 177 MW in power capacity and 300 MW for heat. Together with the country’s remaining three coal power plants, it accounted for a mere 0.8% of the electricity mix last year, Coal-Free Finland and Beyond Fossil Fuels said.

Moreover, coal amounts to just 30% of fuel in Vaskiluoto 2. The facility mostly uses biomass. The operator of the Martinlaakso coal unit is eliminating fossil fuels from regular operations next year. The third one, Meri-Pori, is in strategic reserve.

Share of coal in Finland is marginal

Finland will retain reserve coal capacity for security of supply purposes, which can be deployed if necessary, Helen said. In addition, some energy companies use small amounts of coal in their energy production for peak, reserve and security of supply reasons, it added. The law forbids using coal in energy production after May 1, 2029.

Wind power output more than doubled in Finland since 2020, reaching a quarter of the total. At the same time, coal-fired generation plummeted 73% while fossil gas is down 82%, according to the report. “Finland has shown what’s possible when clear political signals are matched with rapid investments in renewable power,” said Deputy Campaign Director at Beyond Fossil Fuels Cyrille Cormier. The group called on the authorities to double down on renewables and clean flexibility.

Finnish energy experts can pull off impossible tasks

Helen delayed the closure of Salmisaari by a year. Coal still accounted for 64% of the company’s district heating supply in 2022!

The utility managed to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% since 1990. It aims to reach 95% by the end of the decade.

“Helen giving up coal and, at the same time, foreign imported energy with regard to it, will remain a significant part of our country’s industrial history and shows that Finnish energy expertise enables actions that initially seemed impossible,” Chief Executive Officer Olli Sirkka said.

Helen transitioning to clean solutions

Helen is shifting to clean solutions. It enables operating more profitably with lower prices, the CEO pointed out. A range of facilities are under construction.

Heat production is mainly moving to heat pumps – utilizing waste and environmental heat – electric boilers, energy storage and sustainable biofuels. Helen will lean on wind, nuclear energy, hydropower and photovoltaics for electricity.

The new units in Salmisaari will be two electric boilers of a combined 100 MW, in combination with a heat pump of 33 MW in external capacity, as well as a 153 MW plant burning wood pellets. Helen is planning a 200 MW electric boiler facility of four units in Hanasaari, able to store 1 GWh of heat. It would currently be the biggest in Europe.

Helsinki has the ambition to reach climate neutrality by 2030, though including external offsets. It would eliminate them within the following ten years, which means only the city’s carbon sinks are included in the equation. The next step is turning carbon negative.

Market forces are decimating the remaining coal power capacity in Europe as it is expensive because of emissions rights and strict environmental regulations, as well as inflexible. Germany, Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo* and Turkey have the largest shares of coal in power production in the European Union and Southeastern Europe. Their phaseout deadlines are all after 2030, but the situation is changing fast.

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* This designation is without prejudice to positions onstatus and is in line with UNSCR 1244/99 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
April 7, 2025
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Solar, nuclear lower Europe’s power prices by 30% in March

Electricity generation in solar and nuclear power plants, combined with higher temperatures, lowered the price of electricity in Europe in March by almost 30% on a monthly basis, according to Eurelectric’s data.

Photovoltaics broke the record in power generation in March for the third consecutive month, Eurelectric said, adding that they accounted for more than 10% of Europe’s electricity mix.

The boost in solar power, combined with improved nuclear generation and milder weather, decreased power prices to EUR 90 per MWh from EUR 126 per MWh, registered in February, and EUR 112 per MWh in January.

The organization attributed high prices in the previous two months to low wind generation, increased power demand and the highest gas prices in two years. Ongoing global geopolitical tensions and outages in Norway exerted upward pressure on the cost of gas while limited storage and flexibility sources forced a heavier reliance on gas to supply electricity.

65 GW of solar was added in 2024

Eurelectric said solar rescued Europe with sunnier days and the rise in capacity, with 65 GW added in 2024 alone. As a result, the share of renewables in the power mix was 15 percentage points higher in March compared to February, though one point lower than in March 2024.

Nuclear energy contributed to the decrease in prices with the rise of its share in power production from 24% in March 2024 to last month’s 26% after a few French nuclear reactors came back online, Eurelectric said.

Nevertheless, the average day-ahead electricity price in the first quarter of 2025 was 51% higher than in the first three months of last year. The surge was primarily driven by higher average gas prices, which grew by 33% in the same period, according to the data.

Ruby: Europe remains too vulnerable to fossil fuel price fluctuations

The organization’s Secretary General Kristian Ruby stressed that Europe remains too vulnerable to fossil fuel price fluctuations, especially during periods of high electricity demand. “To counter this, we must speed up the roll-out of demand side response and storage technologies and further incentivise the use of long-term power purchase agreements,” he noted.

Eurelectric sees solutions in capacity mechanisms and flexibility-supporting schemes. Flexibility is also crucial when it comes to balancing negative prices, which are occurring more frequently. As solar generation rose in March, negative prices made a comeback, particularly in Nordic and Western European countries, the organization of the European electricity industry pointed out.

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April 7, 2025
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PPC plans EUR 5.8 billion makeover of Western Macedonia coal region, including data centers

Public Power Corp. (PPC) presented a EUR 5.8 billion investment plan for the coal region of Western Macedonia in northern Greece. It held the ceremony in the retired Kardia 2 lignite-fired power plant.

According to PPC’s chairman and CEO George Stassis, the endeavor consists of the decommissioning of old assets and the rollout of new energy technologies.

Stassis: Western Macedonia can reinvent itself

PPC, or DEI in Greek, said it would return to the government 8,000 hectares of coal land that it no longer needs, after completely restoring it. All equipment, such as 400 kilometers of lignite conveyor belts, cooling towers and excavators, are planned to be recycled up to 95%.

According to the decarbonization timeframe, Ptolemaida 5 will be the last coal plant in the country, continuing to operate until the end of 2026. It is set to be converted to a gas power plant with a capacity of 350 MW. PPC is also open to upgrading it to 500 MW or even 1 GW.

New photovoltaics, storage underway

“Western Macedonia can reinvent itself using new technology,” said the CEO.

The group aims to install a total of 2.1 GW in photovoltaics across the region. A 550 MW solar power plant in the former lignite mine of Ptolemaida is almost complete. It will be the biggest in the Balkans. Separately, a group of clusters of 940 MW is under construction within the Meton joint venture with German RWE.

Energy storage is another major segment in PPC’s investment plan. Within the next three years, it aims to funnel EUR 940 million for a total capacity of 860 MW. It includes two pumped storage hydropower projects. The one in Kardia is for 320 MW and an eight-hour storage duration, and the other in the South Lignite Field – 240 MW and a 12-hour duration. The projects are worth EUR 430 million and EUR 310 million, respectively.

Equally important, battery storage units of 300 MW altogether would be installed in Amyndaio, Akrini, Meliti and Kardia in the country’s main coal region. The other one is Megalopolis in the Peloponnese.

PPC plans a 50 MW hydrogen production facility together with Motor Oil, as Hellenic Hydrogen, and a cogeneration plant to cover district heating needs from the end of 2026.

Large 300 MW data center

Last but not least, the Greek group aims to create a 300 MW data center, as part of an investment of EUR 2.3 billion. A subsidiary in fiber optic cables would upgrade the telecommunication links with Thessaloniki and Igoumenitsa to improve data flow in Greece and abroad.

If conditions are favorable, PPC would further upgrade the data center to 1 GW, increasing its investment by EUR 5.4 billion.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at the event that existing infrastructure in Western Macedonia is a great advantage.

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