Policies for the development of RES in the European Union - The Sustainability of Renewable Energy in Europe - page 80

In this regard, the pilot project regarding procedures for auction for a small por-
tion of the new powers are expected to begin in 2015 and from 2017 all new in-
stallations will have incentives through competitive mechanisms, although for the
European Commission provided for the possibility of a few exceptions to the mem-
ber states to ensure a certain degree of flexibility in the management of domestic
typicalness over the adoption of these new mechanisms.
However, auctions are excluded from the lower power plants (less than 3 MW
for wind power and 500 kW for other RES).
These, in fact, will continue to benefit from all types of support, including feed-
in tariffs. Other exemptions from the revision of the system of incentives are pro-
vided for systems with a capacity of less than 6 MW for wind power and 1 MW
for the other RES, provided they are in the initial stages of development (European
Commission, 2013 , p. 440 final).
Treatment for energy-intensive industries is different with respect to payment of
the exemptions in support of RES: in fact, these will be evaluated in consultation
with the new retroactive guidelines. The measure also expresses the ability to pay,
that is, the contribution made by some countries at the thermal power plants to com-
pensate for the reduction in revenues due to the RES. This is an incentive assigned
for the replacement of the production of energy from these plants, in the hours when
RES do not produce, as part of an electrical system that has not yet adapted to the
management of intermittent sources such as the RES.
In this sense, the decision of the European Commission states that member states,
in the future, before considering mechanisms that compensate for the intermittence
of RES, must try to remove the distortions that do not allow the market to provide
the right incentives to invest in new capacity. Only after this, compensation can
be introduced and it is not supposed to restrict competition in the internal energy
market. According to the decision of European Commission, member countries will
only have one year from the publication of the guidelines in the official gazette of
the EU to adapt its system of incentives to the new rules European Commission
2014). It remains to be seen whether some countries will exercise their right to
self-determination of the mix of energy policies. Some countries, such as France,
Germany, UK and Italy, have sent a protest letter to the Commission during the
consultation prior to enactment of the guidelines.
Regarding the agricultural sector, the new guidelines should not have a very
strong impact by virtue of the fact that agro-livestock investments are characterized
by small plants. This does not mean that the Commission's approach does not raise
debates on the costs of RES, threatening to crush the system without making the
right distinctions in terms of cost and environmental and energy sustainability, in-
cluding the speculative interventions and positive that can come within the territory.
The new guidelines provide a framework for designing more efficient public
support measures that reflect market conditions, in a gradual and pragmatic way.
The new guidelines provide a framework to outline measures to support the pub-
lic more efficient that reflect the market conditions in a gradual and pragmatic way.
The guidelines aim to outline the state aid that contribute to achieving the 2020