REPowerEU: Replacing demand for Russian gas with additional 10 mt/y of imported renewable hydrogen

8th March 2022, The European Commission has today proposed an outline of a plan to make Europe independent from Russian fossil fuels well before 2030, starting with gas, in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

This plan also outlines a series of measures to respond to rising energy prices in Europe and to replenish gas stocks for next winter. Europe has been facing increased energy prices for several months, but now uncertainty on supply is exacerbating the problem. REPowerEU will seek to diversify gas supplies, speed up the roll-out of renewable gases and replace gas in heating and power generation. This can reduce EU demand for Russian gas by two thirds before the end of the year.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “We must become independent from Russian oil, coal and gas. We simply cannot rely on a supplier who explicitly threatens us. We need to act now to mitigate the impact of rising energy prices, diversify our gas supply for next winter and accelerate the clean energy transition. The quicker we switch to renewables and hydrogen, combined with more energy efficiency, the quicker we will be truly independent and master our energy system. I will be discussing the Commission's ideas with European leaders at Versailles later this week, and then working to swiftly implement them with my team.”

REPowerEU, "A Hydrogen Accelerator to develop infrastructure, storage facilities and ports, and replace demand for Russian gas with additional 10 mt/y of imported renewable hydrogen from diverse sources and additional 5 mt/y of domestic renewable hydrogen." (Factsheet, 8 March 2022)

Joint European action for more affordable, secure energy (print friendly pdf):

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