State of EU clean tech competitiveness: a first-of Commission report

The European Commission has launched its first-ever Report on progress of clean energy competitiveness and its underpinning analysis Clean energy transition – technologies and innovations report, as part of the 2020 State of the energy union report. The report takes stock on whether their development is on track to deliver the green transition and the EU’s long-term climate goals.

The European Commission has launched its first-ever Report on progress of clean energy competitiveness and its underpinning analysis Clean energy transition – technologies and innovations report, as part of the 2020 State of the energy union report. The report takes stock on whether their development is on track to deliver the green transition and the EU’s long-term climate goals.

From 2020 on, the Commission will publish a yearly progress report on clean energy technologies and the competitiveness of the EU clean energy industry. EHP participated in the informal consultations on the supporting analysis, CETTIR, and covered the digital launch of the report (see agenda and speakers) on 10 November.

The CPR report focuses on offshore wind, ocean energy, solar PVs, renewable hydrogen produced from electrolysis, batteries and smart grids (HVDC, digital grid solutions for RES integration). The Conclusion also mentions geothermal, solar thermal, CCS and nuclear. Buildings technologies are also identified as a high energy consumer, the Commission notes that “The EU has a strong position in certain sectors such as prefabricated building components, district heating systems, heat pump technologies and home/buildings energy management systems (HEMS/BEMS).” Interestingly the conclusion also notes the importance of citizens and cities that “can play a key role in developing a holistic and integrated approach” and are at the heart of the energy transition (p.31).

The supporting analysis features the DHC sector more prominently in the buildings section (3.7) “District heating and cooling industry” and with developments that will interest EHP members on, i.e., industrial heat recovery, bio CCS (in the renewable fuels section). It notes that “the EU is a world leader in District Heating and Cooling (DHC) technology and exports it globally, especially to China, USA and South Korea. The industrial heat recovery sector is important for its CO2 emission reduction potential in a hard-to-decarbonize sector and the current industry in the EU, for example in industrial heat pumps, would benefit if the sizable market potential for the recovery of industrial waste heat would be developed further.”

For further information, please refer to our detailed analysis on the launch of the Competitiveness Progress Report on the Clean Energy Transition in PDF format, including key findings and notes on speakers and panellists’ interventions, available here.