The European Union on Tuesday said it would heavily cut its dependence on Russian gas in response to Moscow's attack on Ukraine.
"We must become independent from Russian oil, coal and gas," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). "We simply cannot rely on a supplier who explicitly threatens us."
In 2021, Russia provided around 45% of the EU’s total gas imports and 27% of EU imports for crude oil. The EU intends to cut imports from the Kremlin by two-thirds by the end of the year.
With the goal of phasing out dependence on Russian fossil fuels by 2030, the EU’s plan, called REPowerEU, will "increase the resilience of its energy system," and "diversify its gas supply sources … from non-Russian suppliers," as well as increase the use of "biomethane and renewable hydrogen."
The EU has enough gas stored for this winter’s heating season, the commission said, "even in case of full disruption of supplies from Russia."
"The question is what can we do during the next nine months to make sure that we can survive the next winter while being warm enough," Thomas Pellerin-Carlin, director of the Paris-based Jacques Delors Energy Centre told WSJ.
The new plan calls for the EU to bring its average natural-gas storage level to at least 90% capacity by the beginning of October annually, according to the report.
A storage level of 90% equates to about 1,000 terawatt hours, which should be enough to get the EU through the winter without relying on Russian imports.
Algeria, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Korea, Nigeria, Norway, Qatar, Turkey and the U.S. have allowed the bloc to import a record amount of liquid natural gas in January and February, the EU said, and these developing relationships will allow for another 50 billion cubic meters each year.
The EU’s plan also calls for the bloc to produce 35 billion cubic meters of biomethane by 2030, using biomass sources, such as agricultural waste.
Aiming to replace 25 to 50 billion cubic meters per year of imported Russian gas with renewable hydrogen, the EU’s plan calls for the creation of a Hydrogen Accelerator, to develop infrastructure, storage and port capabilities.
Investing in improving energy efficiency in homes, buildings and industries, and accelerating the rollout of renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, and heat pumps also factor into the EU’s plan for energy independence.
Additional components of the plan include fast-tracking permitting processes for renewable energy sources and making grid infrastructure improvements, as well as providing financing mechanisms for power purchase agreements in Europe.
As the EU cuts off Russian natural gas imports, the price will almost surely increase. To take the pressure off consumers and small businesses, the bloc is allowing member states to take several actions, given "the current exceptional circumstances."
According to the commission, member states can regulate prices for vulnerable consumers and small businesses and provide companies with short-term support.
They could also levy temporary taxes on energy companies’ profits that were the result of unusually high energy prices and pay those taxes out to consumers to help them afford the increased energy bills.
Another option available to EU member states is using increased emissions trading revenues to shield vulnerable customers from the high price of energy bills.
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