The institutional contexts of the energy transition in Spain and Hungary: the diversity of a community goal

Abstract

The energy policies of the different countries of the European Union are marked by the community objectives of achieving a 32% of renewable energy consumption of total consumption by 2030. Although there are ambitious objectives to promote the energy transition in the EU, the development of RES has been uneven between countries. The article analyzes how the energy transition process is developing in Spain and Hungary through a comparative study of the institutional contexts on which this process is based. Two countries whose natural potential has allowed them to be ambitious in their renewable energy development projections, but which must propose a new approach to their energy systems if they want to achieve their full development. Along with structural problems such as the energy tradition linked to hydrocarbons, the monopolization of electricity markets or administrative complexity, the social and landscape dimension of renewables are emerging as new challenges for both countries. The objective of the article is to analyze the similarities and differences between the two models of energy development that allow to exemplify the various national realities behind this European objective and to understand the uneven energy transition in different European countries.