On June 15, EURELECTRIC, the Union of the Electricity Industry, organized a workshop to discuss the central role that they believe that electricity will play in the low carbon economy. The event explored potential benefits of electrification, specifically in heating and cooling. This event brought together policymakers, industry experts and NGOs to discuss challenges and opportunities for policies, technologies and stakeholders.

According to EURELECTRIC, reflected in European power sector’s vision, the key messages and future prospective benefits of electrification include:

• Meeting the world’s energy needs with less carbon
• Providing more energy efficiency
• Improving ambient air quality, especially in cities
• Strengthening security of supply, through diversification and storage
• Empowering the European customer through choice.

In this respect, Eva Hoos from DG ENER indicated that heating and cooling is a major demand driver, it requires strategic focus for decarbonization through energy efficiency and it is important to combine and develop all sources of renewable energy by taking into account specific geographic conditions for each specific region. It was added that the synergy between heating and cooling and the electricity sector cannot be ignored and electricity will play a great role especially after the needs for storage and development of smart electric networks are addressed. 

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