Roadmap 2050 further launched in EU member states

KEMA's Executive Board member Thijs Aarten speaks in Spanish Congress

June 18 – After the successful April launch of the report 'Roadmap 2050: A practical guide to a prosperous, low-carbon Europe' in Brussels, the report was also launched in EU member states Spain and France last week. In Roadmap 2050, McKinsey & Company, Imperial College London, Oxford Economics and KEMA analyzed and determined that achieving the European Union's greenhouse gases reduction target by 2050, based on zero carbon power generation, is technically feasible and economically rational. The report was written for the European Climate Foundation (ECF).

"A mature power sector in Spain"
The launch in Madrid, Spain, took place on June 9. Spanish Secretary of State for Climate Change, Teresa Ribera, opened the session in the presence of more than 100 executives from the energy and public sector. She stressed the importance for Spain to capitalize on its competitive advantage in renewable energies to lead on power decarbonization and even unilaterally implement the Roadmap 2050 recommendations towards “a mature power sector in Spain”. Jules Kortenhorst, chief executive officer of the ECF, and Thijs Aarten, member of the Executive Board of KEMA, also addressed the audience.

Interconnection
Francisco Macia, deputy director for energy planning at the Ministry of Industry, and his colleague Alfonso G. Finat, advisor to the Secretary of State for energy, were also in attendance at the meeting. The latter underlined the point that Spain should aspire to move away from the current situation, where it is a sort of “power island”. Significant expansion of Spain’s interconnections with the rest of the EU, which is required according to the KEMA analysis, would benefit Spain without compromising the self-sufficiency of the country.

Spanish Congress
Roadmap 2050 was also presented in the Spanish Congress on the same day. The session was opened by MP Maria Antonio Trujillo Rincon (chair of the Environment Committee in Spanish Congress and former minister of housing) and MP Jose Segura Clavell (chair of the Mixed Committee for Climate Change of the Senate and the Congress). German MP Frank Schwabe and Swedish MP Sofia Arkelsten attended the session as well. In addition to the general launch, KEMA's Executive Board member Thijs Aarten presented the results of the technical analysis during the session. The session was closed by Spanish Minister of Environment Elena Espinosa. For the Spanish Minister, Roadmap 2050 proves the EU’s leadership in climate change by setting objectives that are both technically and economically feasible.

Two days after the sessions in Spain, Roadmap 2050 was also successfully launched in Paris, France. Pier Nabuurs, KEMA's CEO, presented the technical analysis of the report. The event was attended by an audience mainly consisting of academics, energy research centers and businesses. Later this week, the report will be launched in Stockholm, Sweden.