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A 10-Point Plan to Reduce the European Union’s Reliance on Russian Natural Gas
…policy makers and consumers can do to lower them. This IEA analysis proposes a series of immediate actions that could be taken to reduce reliance on Russian gas, while enhancing the near-term resilience of the EU gas network and minimising the hardships for vulnerable consumers.A suite of measures in our 10-Point Plan, spanning gas supplies, the electricity system and end-use sectors, could result in the EU’s annual call on Russian gas imports falling by more than 50 bcm within one year – a reduction of over one-third. These figures take into account the need for additional…
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European Union 2020
…support energy system integration.
This policy review commends the progress made by the EU, such as the creation of an internal energy market and enhancement of energy security and climate policies. The IEA provides a range of recommendations for the successful implementation of the European Green Deal in the coming years. The report also outlines opportunities for boosting shortand long-term actions for a resilient, sustainable and just recovery of the European economy. Executive summary Over the past five years, the European Union (EU) has made significant progress in completing the internal market for electricity and gas, promoting energy efficiency… -
Developing Capacity for Long-Term Energy Policy Planning: A Roadmap
EU4Energy regional roadmap Today’s main policy questions relate to what an energy policy should look like to be robust and flexible enough to deal with the uncertainties of the future. Therefore, a scenario-approach relying on energy system models is essential to support decision making because modern energy system analysis provides the best chance of ensuring decisions will not be regretted in the medium to long term.Developing analytical capacity (i.e. tools and staff skills) is complex and time-consuming. To maintain – and especially expand – a country’s capacity for long-term energy planning, adequate resources need to…
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Sustainable Transport Policy for Armenia: A Roadmap
…through tax incentives, building convenient, reliable and robust charging infrastructure and public-private partnerships; 4) boosting transport efficiency through multimodal planning, rail and public transport development and prioritising critical projects; and 5) encouraging the production and use of fossil-free fuels, especially biomethane, to cut reliance on fossil energy. Its recommendations seek to align policy, governance and investment to advance Armenia’s sustainable development and support global climate mitigation. Armenia sustainable transport roadmap actions at a glance Discover how Armenia plans to transform its transport system by reducing CO2 emissions, enhancing regional connectivity, fostering economic development, and improving energy security.
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Hydrogen in North-Western Europe
…western Europe has vast, underutilised potential renewable energy in the North Sea, which is central to decarbonisation strategies for countries in this region. Utilisation will require integrating large volumes of variable wind power into their energy systems, which may require upgrading electric grid infrastructure and deploying energy storage capacities. Converting offshore wind electricity into hydrogen adds an additional opportunity to absorb high volumes of wind generation into their energy systems and markets and facilitate sector integration.The opportunity offered by the North Sea extends beyond offshore wind due to the potential for large underground carbon dioxide storage, which could enable low…
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Coping with the Crisis: Increasing Resilience in Small Businesses in Europe through Energy Efficiency
…help smaller businesses overcome these perilous challenges and to sustain European economies, the European Commission and the International Energy Agency have teamed up to raise the awareness of governments, businesses and related stakeholders about the available options to empower and protect SMEs. These include EU support measures currently available to SMEs that can be tailored to meet their specific needs. They also include steps that businesses can take themselves to use energy more efficiently and wisely, making them more resilient and secure – both in the short and in the long term.In this document, the sections on setting the scene…
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Is the European Union on track to meet its REPowerEU goals?
…energy does increase in all three of these sectors by 2027 in our main-case forecast, in none of them are levels consistent with the REPowerEU plan. While the share of renewables in electricity expands to almost 55% by 2027 in our main case, this is well below the 69% share the European Commission estimates is needed to support the REPowerEU plan. To enable further increases, governments across the European Union will need to minimise policy uncertainty, simplify permitting procedures and accelerate transmission and distribution network upgrades. Ramping up renewables-based power generation is also essential to expand renewable energy…
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Is renewable energy capacity in the European Union making windfall profits from high wholesale prices?
…data are limited concerning non-policy factors, including long-term bilateral power purchase contracts, developers’ hedging strategies and exposure in the wholesale electricity market. To understand these non-policy factors, we examined the balance sheets of the European utilities with large operational renewable and fossil fuel capacities. Policy schemes In the European Union, policy schemes make more than half of utility- and commercial-scale renewable power capacity (including large-scale hydropower) eligible to receive wholesale energy prices. Excluding hydropower, wholesale market exposure is under 40% for wind, solar PV and bioenergy technologies. Hydropower plants, which account for one-quarter of…
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IEA Support to Accelerating Renewable Energy Permitting (ARPE)
…for renewable energy in the overall energy mix to 42.5% (with the ambition of 45%) – up from 40% in the 2021 proposal. Achieving this will require more than 1 200 gigawatts (GW) of installed cumulative renewable power capacity by 2030, almost double that of 2023.The key barrier to rapid renewables deployment in many EU Member states is lengthy and complex administrative procedures related to project permitting. In May 2022, the European Commission released recommendations on permitting, including on identification of renewable acceleration areas (RAAs) where shortened and simplified permitting can be applied.In November 2023, the revised Renewable Energy Directive…
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How to Avoid Gas Shortages in the European Union in 2023
…natural gas markets are not yet out of the danger created by Russia’s cuts to pipeline deliveries of gas. If gas exports from Russia drop to zero and China’s LNG imports rebound to 2021 levels, there is a risk of a shortfall gas supplies in 2023. Measures already taken by EU governments on energy efficiency, renewables and heat pumps should help reduce the size of this potential natural gas supply-demand gap in 2023. A recovery in nuclear and hydropower output from their decade-low levels in 2022 should also help narrow the gap. Despite all of this…
