The electricity production and market liberalization in the European Union

The European Union (EU) consists of fifteen member nations (June 2000). The aim of this paper is to describe market liberalization and the electricity production and its influence in the electricity markets in the EU and Norway. The total production in EU was 2360.9 TWh in 1999. Most of the total electricity in the EU (1999) was produced with combustible fuels, the second largest production form was nuclear power. The European Union has actively promoted the liberalization in the European electricity markets. The Electricity Directive, which came into force in 1997, set a minimum timetable for the market opening. Already now, some members have opened their markets by 100%. Some decline can already be seen in the electricity price of the early market openers. Based on this study it is quite difficult to see any clear connection between the production form and market opening at the moment.