The European UnionIts executive arm moved on Wednesday to begin the launch plan for the 27-nation bloc to give up Russian Energy amid the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, proposes a package worth nearly 300 billion euros ($315 billion) that includes more fuel efficiency and a faster deployment of renewable energy.
The European Commission’s investment initiative aims to help the 27 EU countries start phasing out Russian fossil fuels this year. The goal is to deprive Russia of tens of billions of dollars in revenue, Russia’s main supplier of oil, natural gas and coal, and strengthen EU climate policies.
“We are taking our ambitions to another level to ensure that we are independent from Russian fossil fuels as quickly as possible,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels as announced a product package called REPowerEU.
With no end in sight to Russia’s war in Ukraine and a shaken European energy security, the EU is rushing to align its geopolitical and climate interests over the coming decades. It comes amid worrisome signs that have raised concerns about the energy supplies the EU relies on and has no quick alternative to, including Russia’s severance of member states Poland and Bulgaria after it refused to pay for its natural gas in rubles.
The bloc’s attempt to phase out Russian energy stems from a combination of voluntary and mandatory actions. Both reflect political displeasure at helping finance Russia’s military campaign in an EU neighboring country and want to join the bloc.
An EU ban on coal from Russia will start in August, and the bloc has pledged to try to reduce demand for Russian gas by two-thirds by the end of the year. Meanwhile, an oil embargo proposed by the EU has run into hurdles from Hungary and other embargoed nations, who are concerned about the cost of switching to alternative sources.
In an effort to entice Hungary to be behind the oil phase-out, the REPowerEU package is expected to finance investments in oil of around 2 billion euros for member states heavily dependent on Russian oil.
Energy efficiency and renewables form the basis of the package, which will be funded primarily by an economic stimulus program designed to help member countries weather the recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic. out.
The European Commission said the price to completely abandon Russia’s fossil fuels by the time the 2027 target was 210 billion euros. Its package includes 56 billion euros for energy efficiency and 86 billion euros for renewable energy.
Von der Leyen cited total funding of 72 billion euros in grants and 225 billion euros in loans.
The European Commission also proposes ways to streamline the approval process in EU countries for renewable projects, which can take up to a decade to achieve. The commission said the approval time should be reduced to at least a year or less.
It lays out a solar-specific plan that seeks to double photovoltaic capacity by 2025 and pushes the obligation to install solar panels on new buildings in phases.
Simone Tagliapietra, an energy expert at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels, called the REPowerEU an “aggregate package” whose eventual success will depend on political will in the bloc’s national capitals.
“Most of the actions in the plan require national implementation or close coordination among member states,” said Tagliapietra. “The extent to which countries actually participate will be determined.”
The German energy consultancy Agora Energiewende said the EU plan “focuses too little on specific initiatives that reduce fossil fuel demand in the short term and thus misses the opportunity to simultaneously increase Europe’s energy security and meeting Europe’s climate goals”.
The team’s research shows that the rapid expansion of solar and wind parks and the use of heat pumps to generate low-temperature heat in industry and buildings can be done faster than with building new liquefied natural gas terminals or gas infrastructure, said Matthias Buck, regional director for Europe.
The European Commission’s recommendations on short-term national actions to cut Russia’s energy needs coincide with discussions underway in the bloc since last year on setting energy savings targets. EU’s more ambitious renewables and energy efficiency for 2030.
The targets, which are being negotiated by the European Parliament and national governments, are part of the bloc’s pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by the end of the decade, compared with 1990 levels, and climate neutral by 2050.
Von der Leyen called on the European Parliament and national governments to deepen the commission’s July proposal for an energy savings target of 9% and a renewable energy target of 40% by 2030. Those targets should be 13% and 45%, respectively, she said.
Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark plan to build wind farms in the North Sea to help cut carbon emissions.
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