Opinion
Renewable Energy Integration in the EU in the Decade Ahead
New targets can only be durable if they are also fair: every measure should be judged not only by how much renewable capacity it adds, but also by who benefits and who does not. This response to the EU Consultation on the Renewable Energy Legal Framework Beyond 2030 sets out five priorities for the Commission to consider.
The EU Commission launched a public consultation on the renewable energy framework for the decade ahead, with “the aim […] to collect evidence, information, data and feedback on how RES could be promoted in the period post-2030 with a view to determine what additional EU action is needed to achieve the 2040 objectives and beyond”.
This new legal framework will be a central part of the EU’s climate target of a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 following the EU’s 55% greenhouse gas reduction target for 2030.
The Sustainable Engineering Chair of the Swifft Collective welcomes that ambition, while stressing the underlying stake to boost EU energy independence through reliable and decarbonised energy for all users. As researchers, the Chair responded to the consultation with a broad perspective, keeping in mind the goals of such ambitions as well as the needs of researchers in this area.
These new targets can only be durable if they are also fair: every measure should be judged not only by how much renewable capacity it adds, but also by who benefits and who does not.
This consultation response sets out five priorities for the Commission to consider.
1. Electrification requires a just, well-funded phase-out of fossil fuels
- Fossil fuel phase-out at its core must remain a priority, through the combined structure and pressure or instruments such as ETS carbon prices, binding targets, sector-specific rules and state aid conditionality.
- That phase-out can only succeed if strong and sustained support – above all financial – for demand-side flexibility and storage, is treated as a priority. Without that support, the costs of that transition risk falling hardest on smaller businesses and citizens; the gilets jaunes movement remains a clear warning of what happens when the burden of energy policy is unfairly shared. Phase-out should therefore be coupled with targeted support for clean alternatives.
- In addition to the next renewables package, the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF 2028-2034) will also prove essential, as it should prioritise support for regions, businesses and households in electrification through genuinely renewable sources.
The Sustainable Engineering Chair’s opinion is that the Commission should build on its existing capacity[1] to steer this phase-out fairly, combining instruments such as targeted and monitored funding and support mechanisms; thus, reinforcing the demand-side while supporting supply-side ambitions, through the expansion of renewable generation and electricity demand to the urgent need for storage deployment.
2. Alternatives to fossil fuels must keep advancing
Where direct electrification is not feasible, particularly high-temperature heat in hard-to-abate industrial sectors, the EU has identified hydrogen as a key alternative to fossil fuels. Making this work in practice means addressing two challenges:
- Policies need to stimulate both the production and the uptake of green hydrogen, ensuring that supply and demand develop in a balanced way, to close the existing mismatch and avoid delayed investments on renewable hydrogen supply side.
- Robust regulatory frameworks are required to prevent greenwashing: only hydrogen produced from renewable electricity should be classified as low-carbon[2], and efforts should steer away from fossil-fuel based hydrogen. Today, 96 % of the hydrogen produced in the EU is fossil-based and is created using natural gas[3] – classified as low-carbon depending on carbon capture and storage (CCS). Though technical implications of fossil-based hydrogen are needed for decarbonisation, this classification carries the political risk of hindering phasing out efforts and should be looked at more closely.
At the same time, the EU should support low-TRL (technological readiness levels) research into alternatives such as plasma heating and metal combustion, so that promising routes are not foreclosed too early.
3.Grid access and capacity must keep pace
The Sustainable Engineering chair points out the crucial need to address bottlenecks by expanding the size and connectivity of electricity networks, both within and between Member States.
- The European Union is forecast to see its electricity demand grow at an average annual rate of 2.3% out to 2030[4]. Transmitting this larger supply will require expanding current grid capacity, to avoid congestion, and to stop wasting the additional output generated by renewables.
- Grids need to become more flexible through cross-border interconnections, energy storage, and demand-response technology. This is crucial so that renewable electricity can be shifted from where it is abundant to where it is needed, easing bottlenecks and lowering costs across Europe.
- Storage capacity must be enhanced; with priority given to a fuller use of existing storage capacity while electrifying as quickly as possible, rather than relying solely on new build. The Chair’s opinion is that electrical storage obligations should be required for large volatile and high-demand consumers, such as data centres, to help manage peak and low demand, supporting overall grid stability.
Overall, grid capacity should be expanded and average utilisation raised, so the network can support changing patterns of energy use. This should go hand in hand with better data access for researchers, to facilitate work on European use cases.
4. An overarching EU framework is needed
A common framework of obligations for Member States is necessary on three key dimensions:
- Existing cross-border cooperation needs to be deepened, with closer coordination and data exchange among power system actors and researchers. This is notably part of the recommendations of the ENTSOE-Final Report on 28 April 2025 Blackout in Spain and Portugal, published in March 2026[5].
- Interoperable data is key to researchers, and the Commission should prioritise the implementation of its standardised system for cross-border and sectoral exchange. This would enable exchanges at the level of an EU-wide grid, thus leading to better renewables integration and storage.
- It is essential to structure and finance the bridging of the gap between fundamental academic research and market-ready solutions, particularly at intermediate technology readiness levels (TRL 4–6), by strengthening and incentivising a robust financing ecosystem capable of translating innovation into deployment.
The spectrum of action is large, and both providers and regulators should be treated as key actors in delivering this new framework, keeping the goal of a balanced framework combining strategic support, risk-sharing, and long-term stability.
5. Equity, inclusivity and access should anchor every measure
The entire framework for renewables integration at large in Europe must be anchored in justice and equity perspectives, and inclusivity and access must remain overall anchors for each measure.
- Renewables integration must benefit society broadly rather than concentrate gains among a narrow set of actors. The different groups of stakeholders and their differentiated capacities for consumption and production should be defined precisely by the Commission in light of the future legislation, so progress can be measured against it.
- Overall, social, public and cooperative housing for household levels are a key leverage and investment for the Commission in its decarbonisation targets.
Across all five priorities, our message is the same: an ambitious renewables package will only be a durable one if it is also a fair, equitable one.
[1] This direction is already visible in the Commission’s recent practice: the European Grids Package, presented on 10 December 2025 (COM(2025) 1005), explicitly links the expansion of renewable generation and electricity demand to the urgent need for storage deployment, and proposes streamlined permitting and environmental-assessment exemptions to accelerate it. This is a good sign but it should be deepened and prioritised.
[2] The Hydrogen and Gas Market Directive (EU) 2024/1788 defines low-carbon hydrogen as hydrogen derived from non-renewable sources that meets a GHG threshold of 70 %.
[3] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2025/767227/EPRS_BRI(2025)767227_EN.pdf
[4] https://www.iea.org/reports/electricity-2026/demand
[5] https://www.entsoe.eu/news/2026/03/20/entso-e-publishes-expert-panel-final-report-on-28-april-2025-blackout-in-spain-and-portugal/
Authors
Alberto Procacci, Principal Investigator for the Chair in Sustainable Engineering
Lucie Bergouhnioux, Communications and Outreach officer
And the Chair in Sustainable Engineering: Dimitri Hanssens (PhD), Maxime Jongen (PhD), Aurelie Bellemans (Prof. VUB) and Alessandro Parente (Prof. ULB)