Energy transition

Articles


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Böll EU Newsletter 11/2025 - In an unruly world, can Europe still set rules?

Published: 27 November 2025
Newsletter
Europe once set the standards the world followed. Today, others are pushing back, challenging the EU’s regulatory power and exposing its reluctance to act strategically. Our Böll EU Newsletter 11/2025 examines Europe’s shifting role in global power politics, the rise of the green euro, new debates on security and offensive capabilities, fresh insights on the MFF, and our latest work on citizen participation in the EU energy transition.
Roderick Kefferpütz
A message to citizens: the energy transition is on your side. Let’s benefit from it!

A message to citizens: the energy transition is on your side. Let’s benefit from it!

Published: 21 November 2025
Commentary
Europe’s energy transition has achieved a lot. The high share of domestic renewables in our energy mix buffered the fossil gas price crisis. During the last decade, solar power became the cheapest source of electricity, accessible at basically all citizens’ homes. So, if your bill goes through the roof, just put solar panels on the rooftop? Yes, but if things were so easy, the Green European Foundation (GEF) and the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union would not have worked with a knowledge community of 30 energy geeks and social policy nerds during the past year on how to let citizens benefit better from the energy transition
Jörg Mühlenhoff
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Heat pumps: phases of transition differ strongly among countries in Europe

Published: 19 November 2025
Analysis
There are good reasons to wish for a future with more heat pumps: less fossil gas in the heating sector and therefore less methane leakage and less CO2 and NOx emissions; lower costs for households; and more energy independence for nations. Most of this works best with powering the heat pumps with a bigger share of renewables. In Europe, heat pumps boomed until 2023 and then dipped to 2020 or 2021 levels in 2024. Starting points and paces of change in the heat pump market differ wildly. Let’s have a virtual trip to Sweden, France and Germany and find out why those timelines are so different.
Andreas Bäumer
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Citizens' fair participation in the EU energy transition

Published: 12 November 2025
Infographic
For citizens, the energy transition brings many opportunities to cut their bills. They can benefit from cheap renewables, for instance by using solar power from their rooftop. They can reduce their energy consumption, for instance through energy efficient appliances or building renovation. They can also use renewable electricity to move from one place to another. But not every household can afford the new technologies such as solar photovoltaic panels, electric vehicles or heat pumps. The EU offers several rights and regulations that facilitate citizens’ fair participation in the energy transition. Explore our infographic to see which tools make it easier to benefit from the different technologies. This will empower households to escape from rising fossil fuel prices.
Jörg Mühlenhoff, Joan Lanfranco
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Electricity prices must fall!

Published: 10 October 2025
President's column
Levies, charges, and taxes make electricity expensive – and hinder the switch to the climate-friendly, electricity-based alternatives that we urgently need. Yet many companies and consumers have long been ready to make the change. The technology is already available, often from German manufacturers, who have been waiting for years for a market breakthrough. Instead, Katherina Reiche's reckless wrong-way drive continues unabated.
Jan Philipp Albrecht
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Fair network charges and flexible demand: cutting the cost of the energy transition

Published: 5 September 2025
Analysis
As Europe’s energy system shifts from fossil fuels to decentralised renewable energies, one challenge is coming into focus: how can the rising costs of expanding and modernising the electricity grids required for the transport of renewable power be financed fairly and efficiently? And how can tariff design help reduce pressure on the grid by encouraging consumption patterns that make better use of existing infrastructure?    
Sinéad Thielen
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Press release | Green on paper – Red in practice: updated Green Deal Risk Radar warns of delays and watering down of EU’s sustainability ambitions

Published: 7 May 2025
Press release
Five months into the new European Commission, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union is releasing an updated European Green Deal Risk Radar, spotlighting critical risks to the EU’s climate, environmental, and sustainability laws in the 2024–2029 legislative term.
Roderick Kefferpütz, Jörg Mühlenhoff, Joan Lanfranco

More articles about Energy transition (77)



Publications


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Updating Europe’s energy networks

Published: 13 November 2025
Factsheet
Europe’s electricity grid planning was designed for a slower, fossil-based energy system. Today, rapid renewable deployment, rising electricity demand and the emergence of hydrogen call for a new institutional framework. This factsheet outlines how forward-looking, coordinated planning can help achieve climate neutrality by 2050. It recommends that Member States develop spatial energy plans, that stronger unbundling rules prevent conflicts of interest, and that an Independent EU Energy System Planner be created to improve cross-border coordination and efficiency.
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Can heat pumps be accessible for all?

Published: 10 November 2025
Factsheet
Heat pumps can reduce emissions, cut fossil fuel use and lower energy bills – but they remain unaffordable for many Europeans. High upfront costs and complex installations slow adoption, leaving low-income households behind. Could social leasing and on-bill financing make clean heating accessible to all?
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Fair allocation of energy network costs

Published: 6 November 2025
Policy brief
As Europe electrifies heating, transport, and industry, its electricity grids are facing an unprecedented transformation. Meeting the growing and increasingly complex demand will require hundreds of billions in new investments – costs that risk falling heavily on consumers. This brief examines how better network tariff design can balance fairness and efficiency, reward flexibility, and make Europe’s energy transition more just and affordable for everyone.
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Increasing benefit sharing of renewable energy projects

Published: 6 November 2025
Policy brief
Europe’s clean energy transition is accelerating – but so is public resistance in some regions. While most Europeans support renewables, projects often face local opposition when communities feel excluded or see few direct benefits. This brief explores how renewable energy projects can strengthen trust and public acceptance by sharing value locally, creating jobs, and showing that the transition is not only green, but fair.
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The contribution of renovation and repurposing to affordable energy-efficient homes

Published: 6 November 2025
Policy brief
Europe’s homes and buildings sit at the intersection of social wellbeing, climate resilience, and energy security. Yet inefficiency and rising costs are undermining their role as safe, affordable spaces. This brief explores how the upcoming European Affordable Housing Plan and European Citizens Energy Package can unlock the potential of citizen-driven renovation to build resilient, renewable-powered living environments for all.
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Citizens' fair participation in the EU energy transition

Published: 6 November 2025
Infographic
The energy transition can help people save money through solar panels, energy-efficient homes and electric transport. But not everyone can afford these new technologies. The EU has rules and support to make the transition fair for everyone. Our infographic shows how people can benefit and protect themselves from rising fossil fuel prices.
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World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2025

Published: 22 September 2025
Report
The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2025 reviews global nuclear trends, covering reactor operation, construction and decommissioning, with a focus on major nuclear countries and Taiwan’s completed phaseout. It analyses newbuild programmes, Small Modular Reactors, nuclear–renewables compatibility, and Russia’s nuclear interdependencies. Dedicated chapters assess Fukushima’s ongoing challenges and the status of 218 closed reactors.
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More publications about Energy transition (52)





More pages about Energy transition


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Web dossier: Towards a European Energy Infrastructure Union

Published: 13 November 2025
Web dossier
Our energy networks materialise the EU’s power of cross-border cooperation. Thanks to a well-connected grid, affordable electricity flows across the continent to households and businesses. And despite the Iberian blackout of 28 April 2025, outages remain extremely seldom and limited in time in within the EU. With the rise of a renewable, more decentralised energy system, Europe’s energy infrastructure also needs to adapt. The EU Action Plan for Grids and the EU Grids Package try to tackle the huge technical, administrative and financial bottlenecks that risk delaying the growth of wind and solar power. How can policymakers and industry advance the update of our grids? Could this task become the laboratory for a deeper integration of energy policies, evolving into a truly European Energy Infrastructure Union?
Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union | Global Dialogue
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Web dossier: A fair participation in the EU’s energy transition

Published: 12 November 2025
Dossier
How can citizens benefit better from the EU’s energy transition? Which tools can help them to access directly renewables and building renovation? The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union and the Green European Foundation have worked with experts in energy and social policy to identify key areas where the EU could act to ensure that citizens and households are able to fully experience the benefits of the energy transition, in their homes, communities and pockets.  
Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union | Global Dialogue, Green European Foundation (GEF)

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