Brattle Consultants Author Paper on Electrification and Utility Growth in Europe
Published by The Brattle Group, Inc.
Brattle Principal Jurgen Weiss and Research Analysts Maria Castaner and Tony Lee have authored a paper, “Electrification: EU Opportunities for Utility Growth.” The paper will be presented at the Electrify Europe conference in Vienna, Austria, where it has also been nominated for the “Best Paper Award.”
The paper discusses a variety of opportunities for growth in utility sales in Europe. Based on the electrification of transportation (electric and self-driving cars), water and space heating systems (air and ground source), along with the decarbonization of the power supply mix, the authors believe that the EU will have improved utility sales and will come closer to achieving greenhouse gas reduction goals.
Electrification could also make a fully decarbonized electric system easier to manage by thermally storing heat in the form of charging and discharging millions of batteries for future electric vehicles.
The paper suggests that by facilitating the deployment of vehicle charging infrastructure and charging rate design, and working closely with regulators and policymakers, the electric sector will become the center of future energy systems. While a number of stakeholders, including customers, must get on board with such ideas, the authors feel that without active engagement by all, decarbonization by the utility industry will be less efficient or not go forth at the speed required by the Paris Climate Accord and other decarbonization obligations.
The paper can be downloaded below.
