Ambitious goals
EU draft: 195 billion for energy independence
A wind turbine stands behind a solar field not far from a motorway near Paunzhausen in Bavaria. Photo: Peter Kneffel/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
A strategy for independence from Russian energy is eagerly awaited in Brussels. According to a draft, the EU Commission is primarily focusing on more ambitious goals for renewable energy.
According to analyzes by the EU Commission, the European Union must invest an additional 195 billion euros over the next five years in order to get rid of Russian energy.
In the middle of next week, the Brussels authority is expected to present its plan to supply the EU with long-term energy without fossil fuels from Russia. To this end, the Commission wants to set more ambitious targets for the expansion of renewable energies and energy saving. This emerges from a draft that is available to the German Press Agency. The text is subject to change.
The aim of the strategy is therefore to rapidly reduce dependence on fossil fuels from Russia by driving the energy transition. By 2030, 45 percent of the energy in the EU should come from renewable sources, instead of the previously planned 40 percent. That would increase clean energy capacity to 1,236 gigawatts, compared to 511 gigawatts today – more than what was initially foreseen in the EU climate package.
Reduce consumption by at least 13 percent
According to the draft, the number of solar power systems should more than double by 2028, to 300 gigawatts. The Commission also relies on climate-friendly hydrogen, which is produced from green electricity, for example. By 2030, ten million tons of it will be produced in the EU and another ten million tons will be imported.
At the same time, it is proposed to reduce energy consumption by at least 13 percent by the end of the decade, instead of the 9 percent previously planned. The implementation of the goals is largely up to the countries, which could use money from the Corona development fund for reforms.
Overall, the strategy could save the EU around 80 billion euros a year in Russian gas imports, 12 billion in oil imports and 1.7 billion in coal imports, according to the draft.
“The lesson from the current situation must be that we should never again make ourselves so dependent on a single supplier,” commented MEP Markus Ferber (CSU) on the draft in advance. “But the Commission must not only develop long-term strategies for diversification, but must also say very specifically how we will get through next winter.”
The draft is part of a larger package that will also include a detailed solar strategy and new rules for the approval of green power plants. Further plans for dealing with the high energy prices are also expected.