European Commission unveils latest plan regarding fast tracking of renewables, hydrogen and biomethane to replace gas imports from Russia to the EU

On 8 March 2022, the European Commission (the Commission) proposed RePowerEU, an emergency action to increase the resilience of the European Union (EU)-wide energy system in view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Presently Russia provides more than 40% of the EU’s total gas consumption and accounts for 27% of oil imports and 46% of coal imports.

The proposed measures address the following:

• Mitigation of energy retail prices to support low-income households and other heavily affected entities
• Sufficient gas storage to prepare the EU Member States for the next winter
• Actions to eliminate the EU’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels in the mid and long term, through:
  • Diversification of gas supplies, via higher LNG and pipeline imports from non-Russian suppliers, and larger volumes of biomethane and renewable hydrogen production and imports
  • An integrated EU energy system, largely based on renewables, greater energy efficiency, electrification, and elimination of infrastructural and regulatory bottlenecks

Source EY

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