Leading European corporate renewable energy buyers and sellers have sent a joint letter to the EU Parliament calling for revisions to the TEN-E Regulation to facilitate renewable electricity uptake and help deliver on the European Green Deal.

The Trans-European Networks for Energy (TEN-E) Regulation aims to assist national governments and companies in building better cross-border energy infrastructure. While TEN-E’s overall aims remain valid, updates are necessary to better align the Regulation to the EU’s revised 2030 and 2050 climate targets.

The signatories to the letter, including Amazon, Facebook, Google, Heineken, Ingka Group | IKEA, Enel Green Power, and Engie from the RE-Source Platform, call on the EU Parliament to propose revisions to the TEN-E Regulation that:

• Prioritise the deployment of smart electrification infrastructures
• Support the simplification of permitting procedures
• Fully integrate medium and low-voltage grid investments.

Corporate sourcing can play a significant role in delivering Europe’s climate ambitions, as renewable electricity purchases channel private investment into new renewable projects. But deploying renewable energy at scale to power sustainable business operations also requires a robust and modern EU electricity grid.

There is a clear appetite amongst companies to source renewable electricity. We can see this from the enormous increase in annual corporate PPA announcements, from just 0.1 gigawatts (GW) in 2013 to 4 GW in 2020. The signatories to the letter have over 5 GW of PPAs under management in Europe alone.

Membership of RE100 is another good barometer of companies’ interest in sourcing renewables. From their data, we can see a growing wave of companies committed to transitioning to clean electricity. In fact, the electricity demand from RE100 companies, committed to going 100% renewable, is now greater than the total electricity demand of the UK or Italy.

It is vital that corporate sourcing of renewables is enabled at the EU and national level so businesses can support a cost-effective decarbonisation of Europe’s economy. TEN-E revisions must prioritise giving Member States and network operators the means to accelerate grid build out and create a strong, modern electricity grid that is future ready.

By centring these key updates to the TEN-E Regulation, the EU will enable corporate electricity buyers to satisfy their desire to source renewables and, in doing so, set itself on a path to meeting its 2030 and 2050 climate targets.