Social Europe

politics, economy and employment & labour

  • Themes
    • Global cities
    • Strategic autonomy
    • War in Ukraine
    • European digital sphere
    • Recovery and resilience
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Dossiers
    • Occasional Papers
    • Research Essays
    • Brexit Paper Series
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Newsletter
  • Membership

Central and eastern Europe: a renewable-energy win-win

Paweł Czyżak 7th June 2023

CEE countries have large wind and solar potential. Greening power supplies would also reduce prices.

central and eastern Europe,CEE,renewable
The progressive new Czech president, Petr Pavel, might make a regional renewables network his mission (Georgiphoto/shutterstock.com)

With their neighbours queuing up to secure as much cheap, clean power as possible, it is high time governments in central and eastern Europe (CEE) put dirty coal and gas behind them for good. The coming revision of National Energy and Climate Plans, by which European Union member states align themselves with the EU’s 2030 targets in these regards, provides the opportunity. What is needed is a collaborative vision of the region’s power system that will lower the cost of living and provide a lucrative energy surplus.

Evidence that the CEE region could build a significant surplus of low-cost, green electricity, attracting new investments and increasing economic competitiveness, comes in a new report from the think-tank Ember. Thanks to their vast renewables potential, CEE countries—Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria—could increase wind and solar capacity from 35 gigawatts today to 196GW in 2030, resulting in 29 per cent lower average electricity wholesale prices than in a scenario based on current policy conditions.

central and eastern Europe,CEE,renewable

Changing the trajectory

Pursuit of a more ambitious pathway could change the trajectory of the EU’s effort to decarbonise its power system. The CEE region covers 20 per cent of the union’s population and territory, 15 per cent of its gross domestic product and 17 per cent of electricity demand. But it still accounts for just 7 per cent and 12 per cent of EU wind and solar capacity respectively. Renewables targets in the region are among the lowest in the EU, and most power (55 per cent) still comes from fossil fuels, leading to high electricity prices, import dependence and—especially in the context of the war in Ukraine—security concerns.

According to Ember’s analysis, removing bottlenecks to renewables deployment, such as grid congestion and chaotic spatial planning, could see renewables reach a 63 per cent share of electricity generation in the region by 2030, compared with only 25 per cent today. It would also open access to at least €137 billion in EU grants to invest in the energy transition.


Become part of our Community of Thought Leaders


Get fresh perspectives delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for our newsletter to receive thought-provoking opinion articles and expert analysis on the most pressing political, economic and social issues of our time. Join our community of engaged readers and be a part of the conversation.

Sign up here

With almost 200GW of wind and solar, CEE could export 23 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2030, compared with importing 7TWh in 2022. Businesses are now on the hunt for this cheap electricity, as are governments. Research shows that the wholesale price decrease thanks to more wind and solar would also translate directly into lower household bills, meaning the whole of society would see the benefits of more ambitious renewables expansion.

central and eastern Europe,CEE,renewable

Economic benefits

A lot of resources are at stake. Offshore wind potential in the region is estimated at around 100GW, with 20GW available by 2030. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania alone could produce an energy surplus of around 20TWh by the end of the decade. This is the equivalent of the current power consumption of Czechia’s massive industry sector (18.7TWh) or, even more strikingly, over 70 per cent of Slovakia’s total electricity demand.

The economic benefits across CEE could depend on how this potential generation is distributed. Electricity from offshore wind needs to be transferred from the sea to demand centres. If Poland however implemented the vision of its transmission-system operator of a north-south power bridge, all players involved would benefit. The Baltic states would profit from energy exports, countries such as Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary would gain access to cheap, green electricity for their businesses and Poland could make money facilitating the power transit (replacing corresponding profits lost from gas).

The same logic could be applied across the region, with countries sharing their sun and wind to optimise power supply and lower prices. This may sound utopian but Luxembourg and Finland are already planning a cross-border tender for renewable energy, setting a precedent for cross-country renewables financing. Bulgaria and Romania are discussing a joint energy island, while Latvia and Estonia are co-developing a cross-country offshore wind farm.

central and eastern Europe,CEE,renewable

Political will

Ember’s research shows this vision of a connected CEE power system is technically possible. Whether there is the political will to make it happen will be determined in the years ahead. Elections are coming in Poland and Slovakia and megaprojects such as a joint CEE power grid would be an attractive way to enhance governments’ platforms.

Estonia already has a 100 per cent renewables target for 2030 and Czechia has a new, progressive president, who could potentially champion an Apollo-scale project such as this, uniting the region around its energy interests. With enough momentum, CEE countries could build a cheaper, cleaner and safer power system, with benefits for their economies and their citizens as well as the planet.

Pics 1
Paweł Czyżak

Paweł Czyżak is a senior energy and climate data analyst at Ember, working on scaling up clean energy in Europe. Pawel has several years of experience supporting large companies and NGOs with their economic and data analysis, and is the author of numerous academic and policy publications.

You are here: Home / Ecology / Central and eastern Europe: a renewable-energy win-win

Most Popular Posts

Russia,information war Russia is winning the information warAiste Merfeldaite
Nanterre,police Nanterre and the suburbs: the lid comes offJoseph Downing
Russia,nuclear Russia’s dangerous nuclear consensusAna Palacio
Belarus,Lithuania A tale of two countries: Belarus and LithuaniaThorvaldur Gylfason and Eduard Hochreiter
retirement,Finland,ageing,pension,reform Late retirement: possible for many, not for allKati Kuitto

Most Recent Posts

OECD,inflation,monetary The OECD and the Great Monetary RestrictionRonald Janssen
prostitution,Europe,abolition Prostitution is not a free choice for womenLina Gálvez Muñoz
Abuse,work,workplace,violence Abuse at work: who bears the brunt?Agnès Parent-Thirion and Viginta Ivaskaite-Tamosiune
Ukraine,fatigue Ukraine’s cause: momentum is diminishingStefan Wolff and Tetyana Malyarenko
Vienna,social housing Vienna social-housing model: celebrated but misusedGabu Heindl

Other Social Europe Publications

strategic autonomy Strategic autonomy
Bildschirmfoto 2023 05 08 um 21.36.25 scaled 1 RE No. 13: Failed Market Approaches to Long-Term Care
front cover Towards a social-democratic century?
Cover e1655225066994 National recovery and resilience plans
Untitled design The transatlantic relationship

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI European Collective Bargaining Report 2022 / 2023

With real wages falling by 4 per cent in 2022, workers in the European Union suffered an unprecedented loss in purchasing power. The reason for this was the rapid increase in consumer prices, behind which nominal wage growth fell significantly. Meanwhile, inflation is no longer driven by energy import prices, but by domestic factors. The increased profit margins of companies are a major reason for persistent inflation. In this difficult environment, trade unions are faced with the challenge of securing real wages—and companies have the responsibility of making their contribution to returning to the path of political stability by reducing excess profits.


DOWNLOAD HERE

ETUI advertisement

The future of remote work

The 12 chapters collected in this volume provide a multidisciplinary perspective on the impact and the future trajectories of remote work, from the nexus between the location from where work is performed and how it is performed to how remote locations may affect the way work is managed and organised, as well as the applicability of existing legislation. Additional questions concern remote work’s environmental and social impact and the rapidly changing nature of the relationship between work and life.


AVAILABLE HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Eurofound Talks: does Europe have the skills it needs for a changing economy?

In this episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast, Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound’s research manager, Tina Weber, its senior research manager, Gijs van Houten, and Giovanni Russo, senior expert at CEDEFOP (The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training), about Europe’s skills challenges and what can be done to help workers and businesses adapt to future skills demands.

Listen where you get your podcasts, or for free, by clicking on the link below


LISTEN HERE

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

The summer issue of the Progressive Post magazine by FEPS is out!

The Special Coverage of this new edition is dedicated to the importance of biodiversity, not only as a good in itself but also for the very existence of humankind. We need a paradigm change in the mostly utilitarian relation humans have with nature.

In this issue, we also look at the hazards of unregulated artificial intelligence, explore the shortcomings of the EU's approach to migration and asylum management, and analyse the social downside of the EU's current ethnically-focused Roma policy.


DOWNLOAD HERE

About Social Europe

Our Mission

Article Submission

Membership

Advertisements

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641

Social Europe Archives

Search Social Europe

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Follow us

RSS Feed

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow us on YouTube