Ljubljana, 15 October 2024
The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) concludes that there is no need for developing new voluntary Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) templates in the EU energy market.
What are the PPAs?
PPAs are contractual arrangements between electricity producers (often renewable energy generators) and buyers. By providing renewable electricity at mutually agreed rates, these contracts foster stability for both parties and promote renewable energy sources (RES).
What is the ACER assessment about?
The (2024) Electricity Market Design (EMD) Regulation promotes PPAs as long-term instruments for ensuring price stability. As part of the EMD reforms, ACER was tasked with assessing whether additional voluntary PPA contract templates are needed to foster the transparency, efficiency and integration of the European internal energy market.
In conducting its assessment, ACER engaged with more than a 100 diverse stakeholders including through an expert group and a public consultation over summer 2024.
What are ACER’s conclusions?
ACER’s engagement with stakeholders showed that:
- Existing templates, developed by industry associations and national bodies, are largely sufficient for current market needs.
- These templates help market participants (especially newer or smaller players) reduce legal costs and streamline the initial phases of the contracting process.
- Addressing critical market barriers, such as project development bottlenecks, would have a more meaningful impact on fostering the PPA market.
ACER concludes that there is no need to introduce new voluntary PPA contract templates. Instead, ACER will provide recommendations on how to improve existing ones and advise on how to remove barriers to market integration.
What are the next steps?
ACER will continue to monitor the PPA market as part of its reporting obligations and to support market participants by addressing structural barriers in its recommendations.
Updates will be regularly shared with stakeholders on the ACER’s website and via the newsletter.
Source – ACER