According to a statement released by WindEurope on Friday, renewable investments will be at risk if EU energy ministers choose to disregard the EU-wide renewables price cap by imposing additional tariffs on electricity producers.
The EU energy ministers will decide on new guidelines for income caps for the production of infrastructure power on September 30th. The European Commission proposes to temporarily cap the price at which low-carbon electricity businesses sell power at €180 per megawatt-hour (MWh) as part of its emergency plan to combat rising energy prices.
Not only would wind generation be subject to this cap, but also solar, biomass, nuclear, lignite, and a small amount of hydropower.
According to WindEurope, the ruling will make it considerably more difficult for Europe to recover from its current energy crisis. Governments must take action to assist households and companies in paying their energy costs. However, what is determined today may make the energy crisis worse, cautioned WindEurope.
Europe needs significant investments in domestic renewable energy sources, according to WindEurope. Everyone concurs with this, and it is the way out of the dilemma. However, as it is, the emergency legislation will halt a lot of investments in renewable energy. The regulation’s intended goal was to impose a limit on all infrastructure power generation across the EU. However, as it is, the regulation has no effect on national governments’ ability to impose additional taxes and other disorganised policies on various forms of energy production, according to the statement.
In addition to the EU’s extraordinary measures, some governments are already preparing new taxes. Additionally, these additional measures impose taxes on the overall revenue rather than the profits of electricity producers. This will freeze investments in green energy, the group said.
Investors will merely move on. Consider the US, where the Inflation Reduction Act offers significant tax credits for investments in renewable energy sources. This is still avoidable, but national governments must pay attention to those who are developing renewable energy sources, it said.