While all EU countries have domestic renewable energy resources to exploit, some areas of Europe have a greater potential for renewables than others. For instance, some countries may have more rivers suitable for hydroelectric power, while others may have more yearly sunshine better suitable for solar.
The creation of Europe’s internal energy market creates great opportunities for countries to work together to exploit these renewable resources and meet their 2020 renewable energy targets. They can do this through the cooperation mechanisms set up under the Renewable Energy Directive:
- statistical transfers
- joint projects
- joint support schemes
Together with other renewable resources like wind, solar PV, geothermal, wave and sustainable forms of bioenergy, STE technology has a major role to play in the future energy mix and in the global energy transition in order to prevent a catastrophic climate change.
This is also why the most suitable way to deploy STE in Europe is to make use of the Cooperation Mechanisms foreseen in the RES Directive 2009/28/EC, before the obsolete polluting coal power plants must be closed and even before reaching the end of the operational lifetime of nuclear units – following the German example.
Read more about Cooperation Mechanisms
Learn more about a study on Cooperation between EU Member States under the RES Directive by ECOFYS