A comparative study on the European renewable energy sources facing globalization

One of the main issues of designing strategies in renewable energies domain is the one of estimating the effects that different support mechanisms may have on investment flows. When designing these strategies, public authorities aim to achieve maximum efficiency by attracting local and foreign investors over the entire value chain of the branch and at the same time minimizing the overall cost of energy infrastructure. However, despite the good intentions underlying their origin, these efforts can sometimes lead to energy projects that are not technically, economically and socially feasible. The previous experience of pioneer countries in the field and a careful analysis of the context in which these practices have been developed can contribute to making more realistic and effective strategies. Therefore, in the first stage, this paper aimed to do a literature review regarding policies to encourage the renewable energy sector, then a comparative study has been conducted, in order to analyze the context and the key strategic decisions grounded by several EU pioneer countries in the field and effective ways of action for emerging economies such as the one of Romania have been identified. In order to study how public policies and other factors are particularly influencing the investors’ strategies, the last stage consisted in a thorough interview with an expert consultant in renewables. Based on the information received, a questionnaire has been sent to three international companies in the renewable field, in which different investment scenarios have been proposed. It was found that the structure of the initial energy mix has a significant influence on the possibilities for further action. Thus, the reorganization of the energy sector requires considerable efforts in developing the technological, financial and legal framework. Among the multitude of financial mechanisms that can be used, a Feed-In-Tariff combined with green certificates and a guaranteed access to the grid appear to be by far the most attractive measures.