European renewable energy sources (RES) will fall short of 2050 capacity targets despite an expected three-fold increase owing to market challenges, according to research body Aurora.
The EU aims to be carbon neutral by 2050, meaning it expects renewable generation to account for over 60pc of its generation mix. Although Europe's installed renewable capacity has increased to almost 530GW in the past decade and is estimated to more than triple by 2050, it will not reach its target owing to persistent challenges in the energy market, Aurora said in an industry report.
The research body highlighted negative prices and market saturation as two of the main obstacles to faster renewable energy additions. Central Europe has recorded the lowest negative prices, while the Nordic area has seen them most frequently.
Grid congestion also represents a major bottleneck for renewables expansion according to Aurora. Europe saw nearly a 15pc rise year on year in remedial actions at around 57TWh in 2023, with Germany, Poland, the UK and Ireland curtailing the most energy.
Aurora urged European countries to develop more battery energy storage capacity and have a more diversified renewable portfolio to enable a more efficient energy transition. It also suggested accessing additional revenue through capacity, ancillary, and balancing markets.
Industry association WindEurope recently raised concerns over the EU not having built enough wind farms last year to reach its 425GW wind capacity target for 2030.
