OREANDA-NEWS. Meeting on 3-4 March in Florence, the European Electricity Regulatory Forum is discussing how to upgrade the EU’s electricity markets and how to better coordinate markets and policies across the EU.

The Forum is debating the Commission's forthcoming proposals for a redesign of the electricity market which must respond to the commitments to fight climate change made at the Paris climate summit at the end of last year.

"Half of the EU's electricity is already powered by low carbon energy sources - this is already a European success story, but it is only just the start. By 2030, renewables will be the dominant player in the electricity system, smart technologies will be the norm, and consumers will be the ones driving the market forward," Miguel Arias Ca?ete, Commissioner for climate and energy, stated at the opening of the discussions at the Forum.

The EU electricity market is currently living through a time of deep change. Europe is moving away from an era dominated by power generation from large central power plants towards a more dynamic, spread-out power generation from renewable energy sources. These changes require an adaptation of the current rules of electricity trading and changes to the existing market roles, so that the electricity market can adapt to this new reality.

The meeting is covering topics such as actions needed to create electricity markets which work on shorter time frames to allow for a smoother integration of renewable energy. Another topic is delving into Transmission System Operators (TSOs) and the ways in which they cooperate and take decisions across regions.