How can electricity market regulation be improved or redesigned to facilitate the achievement of European climate change targets more effectively? Are the necessary policy instruments compatible with the functioning of competitive electricity markets?

These and other subjects were discussed at Market Design’s internaional conference. Major steps have been taken towards integraing Europe’s naional electricity markets into a single market by 2014. However, the objecive of creaing a single European market dates from the late 80s. Since then, growing concern over climate change has resulted in ambiious decarbonisaion targets. The share of low carbon technologies in the electricity mix is esimated to increase from around 45% today to around 60% in 2020, to 75-80% in 2030 and to nearly 100% in 2050.

Decarbonisaion on such a large scale will have a profound effect in energy policy and electricity sector investment. As the share of low carbon generaion increases, the potenial for market distorions will increase, as support mechanisms for renewable energy and capacity mechanisms being discussed in several countries are national in nature.

All conference material will soon be available online: