A plan to make Europe the first electro-continent

The Commission has unveiled a new electrification action plan aimed at speeding up the shift from fossil fuels to electricity in Europe across industry, transport and buildings. The goal is to make Europe the world's first "electro-powered" continent by aiming to increase electrification from today's 23% of energy use to 46% by 2040. By reaching this goal, the EU could save €260 billion per year in fossil fuel imports.

The benefits of moving to electrification include

• reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels, which will make Europe more independent and competitive, and reduce vulnerability to geopolitical shocks
• modernising and decarbonising Europe's energy system, which will help accelerate the green transition
• bringing benefits for European consumers: driving a battery-electric vehicle can save up to 78% compared to an equivalent fossil-fuelled car. Switching from gas boilers to heat pumps cuts the average EU household's heating bill by up to 60%.

However, several challenges still need to be addressed. Electricity often costs three times more than gas. Grid connections can take years. Too many innovative technologies never reach commercial scale. Companies have too little incentive to make the switch from fossil fuels to electricity.

The new plan address all of these challenges. It does so by proposing a series of measures that will help reduce the price gap between electricity and fossil energy costs and by incentivising the uptake of cleaner, electricity-based technologies such as heat pumps, electric vehicles and batteries, among others. Measures in the plan include

• future-proofing electricity bills in the EU by empowering EU countries to reduce network charges for certain consumer groups and taxes for energy-intensive businesses
• encouraging faster deployment of smart meters, which will make it easier for consumers to save on their energy bills
• lowering upfront costs of electrification technologies across key demand sectors. This will be achieved by mobilising tools such as social leasing schemes, the Emissions Trading System (ETS) financial instrument and the Social Climate Fund.
• speeding up the deployment of European electricity grids through the grids package
• accelerating the uptake of innovative electrification solutions
• investing in skills and jobs in electrification, with the potential of creating hundreds of thousands of quality jobs

On the same day the Commission presented this plan, it also announced a review of the EU ETS, the EU's main decarbonisation policy. A changing geopolitical and economic context means that also this policy requires modernising. This review, along with the action plan are part of the EU's wider efforts to boost Europe's competitiveness, decarbonisation and independence.

For more information

Press release - Commission boosts Europe's competitiveness, decarbonisation and independence with Electrification Action Plan and ETS review

Q&A on the electrification action plan

Q&A on the EU ETS review

Factsheet on EU Electrification Action Plan and Network charges