The European Commission announced the introduction of a new Electrification Action Plan, designed to tackle barriers to and incentivize the adoption of electrification for consumers and businesses, in a bid to cut the EU’s reliance on fossil fuels.

As part of the plan, released alongside the Commission’s ETS review, the Commission said that it will assess an indicative electrification target of 46% by 2040, which would double the current share of electricity in final energy use above the current 23%, which it noted has not changed for ten years.

According to the Commission, the EU’s reliance on imported fossil fuels has repeatedly exposed it to geopolitical shocks, noting that Europe has spent more than an additional €50 billion in fossil fuel imports since the beginning of the current conflict in the Middle East, while reaching the 46% by 2040 goal could cut the EU’s fossil fuel import bill by €260 billion per year.

The Commission said that the new plan aims to address the key barriers that are impeding the pace of electrification, most notably by making electricity prices more affordable by narrowing the price gap between electricity and gas, as well as tackling long grid connection times and helping new technologies to reach commercial scale.

Key measures included in the plan to improve the relative affordability of electricity is to address network charges, which the Commission said represent roughly a quarter of household electricity bills, with a legal proposal to design more flexible transmission and distribution network charges so that electricity grids are used more efficiently and at lower cost, and to make to make energy costs more predictable and to support a lasting reduction in bills. The proposal will also allow Member States to reduce taxes and grid charges for specific categories of users such as energy-intensive industries or energy communities, and would provide for a lower taxation of electricity compared to natural gas.

The plan also includes measures to encourage smarter electricity consumption and new business models by promoting smart meters, smarter grids and better data exchange.

The Commission also highlighted proposed solutions under the plan to lower the upfront costs of electrification technologies across key demand sectors, such as buildings, transport and industry, including a goal to double heat pump installations in buildings by 2030 compared with 2025, accelerating the deployment of charging infrastructure to expand electrification related to heavy duty vehicles (HDVs), and helping to lower the upfront costs of industrial electrification, with a focus on industrial sectors with the greatest potential for electrification using technologies that are already commercially available, among other initiatives.

The Commission also announced plans to launch a new Electrification Action Plan Alliance, comprised of EU and national authorities, businesses, industry, and key energy players such as electricity suppliers, storage operators and clean technology manufacturers, in order to create conditions enabling new electrification solutions to commercially scale and accelerate the adoption of clean energy technologies

Additionally, as part of the new plan, the Commission said that it will pursue a series of initiatives to support investment in electrification-related skills, including plans to adopt an initiative to support the portability of qualifications and skills across the EU to attract more electricians and clean technology installers, to provide incentives for manufacturers to support training of electricians and installers under a new Clean Heat Market Mechanism, and for a new Construction Services Act that will make it easier to obtain certifications for energy-efficient building and installation work.

Dan Jørgensen, Commissioner for Energy and Housing, said:

“With this plan, we are putting Europe on a course to become the world’s first electro-continent. The message we are sending today is very clear: choose electricity over fossil fuels. Choose green, home-grown, cheaper electrons over black, imported, expensive molecules. Choose independence over vulnerability. An accelerated clean energy transition coupled with electrification is the answer to Europe’s challenges in terms of security, competitiveness and decarbonisation.”

Click here to access the EU Commission’s Electrification Action Plan.