The European Union’s executive arm is drawing up a plan to end the bloc’s dependence on Russian gas, which will cut import needs by almost 80% this year, according to two knowledgeable officials.
According to the agency Bloomberg, the European Commission is reviewing its energy strategy following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to limit the Kremlin’s influence. The plan, to be unveiled tomorrow, will propose steps such as exploiting new gas supplies and boosting energy efficiency as early as this year, one official said. The goal is for Europe to become independent of the largest fossil fuel supplier long before 2030, sooner than previously thought.
For the project to have any chance of success, member states will have to agree, many of which already feel uncomfortable with the investment needed to implement the Commission’s energy transition plans and are now struggling to reduce the political impact and increased energy cost.
“I think we can present a plan tomorrow that will reduce our dependence on Russian gas from this year and in the coming years will make us independent of Russian gas imports,” Energy Commissioner Franz Timmermans told the European Parliament this morning. . “I think it is possible. “It is not easy, but it is possible,” he added.
The Commission considers that the EU already has sufficient reserves to spend the rest of the winter, even in the event that supplies from Russia are cut short. It will also recommend that member states start working now to fill storage tanks so that they are prepared for next winter.
The Commission will also state that accelerating the implementation of the Green Agreement, its strategy to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels and will protect the economy from price increases, said an official who asked not to be named. Proposals may, however, be amended before they are approved.
According to the plan to be presented tomorrow, among other things, imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and deliveries from pipelines outside Russia will increase. Together, the proposals will enable the EU to replace the 155 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas it now imports from Russia with 112 bcm. About 50 bcm per year will come from new LNG sources, 10 bcm from pipelines from other providers and 20 bcm from new wind farms that will reduce demand for gas-fired power stations. The Commission will also give priority to projects connecting the Iberian Peninsula with the rest of Europe and the union of Bulgaria and Greece.
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