Jakarta, Indonesia. The European Energy Commissioner said, on Tuesday, that the next steps taken by the European Union to address the escalating energy crisis on the continent in the wake of Russia's aggression against Ukraine are expected to be announced next week.
Many European countries have tightened their belts due to rising energy prices. In what German officials see as political influence, Russia's state energy company has pushed to shut down a pipeline carrying natural gas to Europe, as the European Commission chief added that the EU's electricity market "is no longer working." between knocking. Consequences of the Ukrainian war.
European Union energy ministers meet in Brussels on Friday to discuss a collective solution to rising energy market prices.
According to him, the European Commission will approve this package next Wednesday and it will include reducing the prices of gas and energy tankers, increasing liquidity in the market, and reducing the agreed demand. These could include temporary caps on the price of gas used to generate electricity, changes in trading rules on energy exchange, and coordinated measures to reduce demand, as we saw in the summer.
"We know that there are peak times when our families and businesses get hourly wages," he said in an interview at the European Mission in Jakarta. "Part of that proposal is also about peak times and how to reduce demand during those specific periods."
European countries are working to find alternatives to energy. One short-term solution is about 20 floating terminals that receive LNG from other countries and convert it into natural gas for homes and businesses.
Plans for the first floating terminal, which will begin transporting gas by the end of the year, have raised concerns among experts who fear far-reaching consequences for the environment. They warn that the plant will perpetuate Europe's dependence on natural gas, which releases methane and carbon dioxide as it is extracted, transported and burned.
"Currently, Russia uses natural gas reserves as a weapon, we must be careful to protect the supply." This also means that some extraordinary investment is needed," Samson said in response to a question about the risk to the environment.
Samson also acknowledges that rising global gas prices have forced some countries to switch to cheaper but more environmentally destructive energy sources.
"We will take responsibility," he said. “The biggest step we have taken in order not to affect the global gas and LNG market is to agree to reduce our gas consumption.
The European Union is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 and net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Natural gas has been recognized as a "bridge fuel" because it emits less carbon dioxide than coal when burned in power plants energy. However, some experts criticize this move.
“We have pledged to reduce energy consumption this winter, and many national governments have done so,” Simpson said. If we don't prioritize energy conservation, we won't meet our climate goals.
Samson says the current energy crisis in Europe has made it even more clear that renewable energy such as solar and wind is essential for its future.
"Renewable energy allows us to take responsibility not only for the climate but also for food consumption," said Simpson, who arrived in Indonesia for a meeting of G20 leaders from developed and developing countries. . on my mind.
In Brussels, European officials focused on discussions among EU member states over the future construction of another major pipeline that could carry natural gas and possibly hydrogen from Spain to France and beyond.
Germany supported the MidCat/STEP project submitted by Spain and Portugal to move the pipeline across the Pyrenees to its neighbors from the Pyrenees in the north to France and finally to the landlocked countries.
Spain and Portugal boast the largest concentration of LNG in Europe at their ports, and Spain is keen to pioneer green hydrogen energy innovation. However, limited relations between Spain and France limit its ability to export gas to the north, the Spanish government says.
But French President Emmanuel Macron called off the idea on Monday and questioned the feasibility of the project, which would take years and time to create the right conditions for green hydrogen. France relies on nuclear power and would theoretically gain little in the way of additional contacts.
European Commission spokesman for Climate and Energy, Tim McVeigh, said on Tuesday that France should be involved in implementing the project.
McPhee noted that “investments to connect LNG import terminals in the Iberian Peninsula to the broader gas supply network through a hydrogen-ready infrastructure will contribute to expanding gas supplies in the single market,” but this must be emphasized. It is not yet at the point where we can make an assessment.
Spain's Energy Policy Minister, Teresa Ribera, insists she will discuss the pipeline plan with her EU counterparts next Friday.
"This will be one of the issues that European leaders have been interested in for a long time," said Ribera.
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Associated Press writer Joseph Wilson contributed from Barcelona, Spain.
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