Europe’s decarbonised power system requires more than variable generation alone. Ensuring clean electricity is available at all times demands new technologies, new market models, and new procurement approaches.
Giovanni Scomparin from Eurelectric explains how the Next-Level Carbon-Free Energy (CFE) Hub, an Eurelectric initiative, brings together utilities and market actors – from software providers to large electricity consumers – to accelerate the development of firm clean power.
Europe’s electricity transition has entered a new phase: wind and solar generation have overtaken fossil fuels in power generation in 2025 for the first time ever. Yet variable renewables need to be complemented with technologies capable of providing reliable, dispatchable clean power, from storage and hybrid renewable assets to demand pooling, geothermal and long-duration energy solutions.
Eurelectric’s Next-Level CFE Hub focuses on this emerging challenge. Rather than treating renewable deployment as the end goal, the initiative explores how electricity systems can evolve to ensure clean power is available continuously, supporting affordability, energy security and deep decarbonisation.
One of the central barriers facing emerging clean technologies is the lack of clear market signals. While wind and solar have benefited from scale and established financing models, firm clean power technologies still need to scale.
Over time, this lowers the cost of certain technologies, enables more effective decarbonisation, and unlocks further economic growth.
While renewable deployment has been the defining achievement of the past decade, innovation in flexibility and firm capacity forms the next frontier. Electricity suppliers and utilities are central to this transition, as they translate system needs into investment decisions and new customer offerings.
The Next-Level CFE Hub’s innovation-led approach reflects the reality that the transition to firm clean power will be gradual: early pilots and voluntary initiatives allow technologies to mature, costs to fall, and market structures to adapt before widespread adoption.
The development of firm clean power also has strategic implications for Europe’s energy security. Technologies that enable renewable electricity to be dispatched on demand reduce reliance on fossil-fuel-based flexibility and improve resilience during periods of low renewable output. This aligns closely with the European Union’s broader energy policy direction following the launch of the REPowerEU Plan, aimed at reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels. Since 2021, the EU has lowered the share of Russian gas imports from 45% to roughly 19% by 2024, alongside substantial reductions in oil and coal imports. Delivering homegrown clean electricity at all times is key to further fostering Europe’s energy independence and autonomy.
Through its Next-Level CFE Hub, Eurelectric is helping utilities and market actors navigate the next phase of the European energy transition, no longer focused only on renewable additions but also on their cost-effective integration and overall system optimisation. By focusing on firm clean power and enabling the technologies that make it possible, the Hub is a key driver in the transition toward a European electricity system that is not only renewable, but resilient, innovative and fully decarbonised.
