Coriolis Seminar - Electrification and the Evolution of the Power System: Between Ambitions and Realities

Over the past 15 years, Europe has embarked on a radical transformation of its electricity mix. It is tempting to see this as evidence that the transition towards a decarbonized energy system is well underway. Yet, in reality, the transformation of electricity consumption has rarely been the subject of an integrated public policy addressing all sectors of the economy, even though it is essential to all decarbonization scenarios and to rapidly reducing our dependence on imported fossil fuels. 

The gap between the trajectory that electricity consumption should follow and the one it is actually following is widening. The current abundance of low-carbon electricity generation provides a highly favorable opportunity to electrify the country and narrow this gap. However, meeting this challenge will require a number of demanding conditions to be met, ranging from keeping electricity prices under control to adapting and expanding the power grid.