Transatlantic perspectives on energy infrastructure

This roundtable discussion featured Jon Wellinghoff, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Regulatory Energy Commission, Konstantin Staschus, Secretary-General of European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E), and Kitti Nyitrai from DG Energy, European Commission.

Europe and the United States both face challenges in upgrading their energy infrastructure to allow for the expanded use of renewable energy. Since the 1990s, Europe has been successful in integrating a significant amount of electricity from renewable sources into its power system, while deployment has been much more reluctant in the US. However, Europe lags behind the United States in the introduction of an efficient common electricity market. After a number of failed experiments in the past 20 years, several U.S. states have been able to develop resilient electricity market designs.

The event provided an opportunity to discuss what the United States and Europe might learn from each other to allow for a smooth and inexpensive transition of the energy system. It launched a new paper by Bruegel, supported by GMF, on developing the necessary energy infrastructure for a common electricity market that features a large share of renewables.

Event materials

Summary of the event Summary

Speakers

Main speaker

Jon Wellinghoff, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

Discussants

Kitti Nyitrai, Networks and Regional Initiatives Unit, DG Energy, European Commission

Konstantin Staschus, Secretary-General of European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E)

Georg Zachmann, Research Fellow, Bruegel

This event was organised jointly with

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