In a fast-moving energy transition, clarity is critical. Yet, the debate across Europe is still crowded with persistent myths that distort public perception and cloud business decision-making. Kristian Ruby, Secretary General of Eurelectric, offers a corrective view — grounded in facts, experience, and the daily realities of managing a decarbonizing power system.
Kristian Ruby is a seasoned EU policy strategist, known for his pragmatic vision and ability to navigate the complex crossroads of energy, climate, and geopolitics in Europe. “Let’s tackle the challenges, rather than pointing fingers,” he urged in a thorough conversation with Gabriel Avăcăriței, at “WATTs Next”, the new podcast format by Energynomics.
Here are some of the most common myths he addresses — and what the evidence really shows.
MYTH 1: “Renewables are unstable and cause blackouts.”
Debunked The system is evolving — but renewables are not to blame.
“With the blackout in Spain, there was a lot of sort of immediate reverting to ‘this must have been because of renewables,’” Ruby recalls. “Even before anybody had a technical analysis, a lot of people were jumping on that standard explanation on social media.”
This kind of reaction, he warns, reflects bias rather than analysis. The truth is that renewable technologies are rapidly becoming more reliable and economically competitive.
“Renewables are here to stay and more are going to come because we have something called climate change that we need to fix. And by the way, these technologies are way cheaper.”
As the cost of wind and solar falls — and as electricity prices remain elevated due to gas volatility — the market itself is accelerating their integration.
“We are seeing an increasing amount of pace when it comes to renewables. The cost of these technologies has come down very substantially.”
MYTH 2: “Battery storage will solve all flexibility challenges.”
Debunked Batteries are crucial — but they’re not the whole answer.
Europe is investing heavily in battery storage, and that’s a positive development. But Ruby warns against thinking that batteries are a universal solution to flexibility needs.
“Battery storage mainly covers the daily flexibility needs. We also increasingly have weekly flexibility needs and seasonal flexibility needs. A battery is not going to cover any of that.”
This mismatch between expectations and technical capability is dangerous if it leads to underinvestment in other critical solutions.
“We need power plants still. We need power plants on the grid for a long time to come in order to solve for those cold doldrums — the Dunkelflaute, as they call it in Germany.”
Other technologies, like pumped hydro or hydrogen-ready gas turbines, will be needed to meet longer-duration storage demands.
MYTH 3: “High balancing prices will automatically trigger investment in new capacity.”
Debunked Market signals alone aren’t working for backup capacity.
“The cheapest source gets dispatched first, which is great. It’s not so great for the very expensive machine that is critically needed on the grid… that will only run a few hundred hours per year. That machine will not be in the money.”
Even when prices for imbalance are high, the market doesn’t always deliver investment in the dispatchable assets needed to stabilize the system.
“That’s one of the investment conundrums we’re seeing. Even if we have high balancing costs, we’re not seeing sufficient investments in the machines that can actually solve that.”
To address this, Ruby points to European-level policy instruments already available.
“We need actually to deploy that European toolbox… for instance, capacity mechanisms can play an important role here.”
These tools provide long-term revenue streams to technologies that are essential but underutilized — ensuring the grid can deliver under stress.
MYTH 4: “Digitalization is optional — and risky.”
Debunked Digitalization is non-negotiable — but requires resilience.
As the grid becomes more dynamic, real-time coordination becomes essential. For Ruby, digital transformation is not just a priority — it’s a necessity.
“We’ll have no chance of balancing the grid without digital solutions. So we need to make an aggressive all-in push towards more digital solutions.”
Yet this must go hand in hand with cybersecurity, he cautions.
“When we digitize more, we also provide a broader spectrum for attack by cyber crooks. Unfortunately, this is the new reality.”
The challenge is not to avoid digitalization, but to design systems that are robust, protected, and interoperable.
MYTH 5: “Consumers can’t — or won’t — participate in energy markets.”
Debunked Consumers are already engaging — and more are ready to follow.
Ruby acknowledges that full-scale demand-side response is not yet the norm, but it’s far from a distant dream.
“More and more we are seeing products coming from the retail space, like sort of when to charge a car. The most downloaded app in Denmark is one that forecasts the day-ahead prices.”
Large industrials are already being called upon directly by system operators.
“If you’re not able to clear the market [by increasing or decreasing consumption, e.r.], typically the system operator would pick up the phone and call the big industrial and say: Hey, you need to turn down now.”
The next frontier lies with households and mid-size commercial players — those with smart meters, flexible loads, and a growing appetite for savings and control.
“Think of all those office buildings with a lot of glass and a lot of AC. Think of supermarket chains with thousands and thousands of freezers… here’s an opportunity to pull demand and feed it into the system.”
Clarity Over Comfort
As the energy transition intensifies, success depends on abandoning old myths and embracing new realities — based on what works, what scales, and what can be trusted. Ruby’s main message is not about false reassurance — but about informed optimism. “Do we have a set of challenges in basically balancing and operating that new system? Yes. But let’s tackle them, rather than pointing fingers.”
“WATTs Next” is the new podcast by Energynomics dedicated to energy leaders, designed to provide a clear understanding of the people shaping the industry, their visions for the future and emerging challenges. Its main goal is to go beyond standardized answers and delve into the personal and professional perspectives of the interlocutor.
The interviews are structured in three essential directions:
- Shaping a personal and professional profile, providing an authentic picture of the career path and values of the interviewed leader.
- Analysis of the most current topics, to understand what’s next in the industry, what the implications are for companies and consumers, and what we should prepare for.
- Explanation of some essential concepts, by debunking myths and clarifying complex notions for a wider audience.
