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Power flows with UK ‘less efficient’ since Brexit, EU says
(EurActiv, 7 Jan 2021) Additional red tape and customs declarations means electricity will no longer flow as smoothly as it used to when the UK was a full member of the European Union, leading to “increased costs of energy trading,” an EU spokesperson told EURACTIV.
When the EU and the UK unveiled their new post-Brexit trade agreement on Christmas Eve, energy traders expressed both relief and anxiety.
The agreement will ensure “at least basic future alignment” of power and gas markets on both sides of the Channel, said the European Federation of Energy Traders (EFET), adding that it was “confident” that power and gas trading “will continue smoothly from 1 January 2021”.
At the same time, energy traders could not hide their fears about the additional red tape caused by Britain’s departure from the EU’s single market, citing “customs declarations and changes in day ahead auction procedures”.
“We trust the deal done now can provide a starting point for yet closer cooperation in the future,” EFET said in a statement.
Indeed, the EU-UK trade agreement “foresees the possibility to develop, over time, separate arrangements for trade over interconnectors, based on a coupling model,” the European Commission said in a 40-page note explaining the different chapters of the new trade deal.
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EurActiv, 7 Jan 2021: Power flows with UK ‘less efficient’ since Brexit, EU says
