On the success of policy strategies for the promotion of electricity from renewable energy sources in the EU. Energy and Environment

In recent years, a wide range of strategies has been implemented in different EU-countries to increase the share of electricity generation from renewable energy sources. This paper evaluates the success of different regulatory strategies. The most important conclusions of this analysis are: (i) regardless of which strategy is chosen, it is of over-riding importance that there should be a clear focus on the exclusive promotion of newly installed plants; (ii) a well-designed (dynamic) feed-in tariff system ensures the fastest deployment of power plants using Renewable Energy Sources (RES) at the low-est cost to society; (iii) promotion strategies with low policy risks have lower profit re-quirements for investors and, hence, cause lower costs to society.