Commodities
EU Puts Electrification at Centre of Energy Strategy as Hydrocarbon Imports Bill Soars
The cost of the EU's energy imports since the start of the Iran war has risen by 24 billion euros ($28.19 billion), it said in a note on Wednesday, a figure that reflects price increases alone, not additional volumes.The European Commission, whose leader Ursula von der Leyen sees home-grown renewable energy as the lasting solution to energy security, is proposing a number of actions to mitigate the effects of the conflict on energy.While some have been mentioned previously, one notable initiative is an Electrification Action Plan that includes ambitious targets for electrification and the removal of barriers to this in industrial, transport and building sectors.It also plans to establish a 'Fuel Observatory' which will statistically track EU production, imports, exports and stock levels of transport fuels, making it easier to anticipate shortages and to prepare for emergency stock releases when needed.The Commission will also adopt a State Aid Temporary Framework which will loosen rules for national governments providing aid to particularly exposed domestic industries.On the consumer level, measures could include targeted income support schemes and energy vouchers as well as the lowering of excise duties on electricity for vulnerable households.The Commission said that repowering or replacement of wind turbine units with more modern, efficient and often larger turbines, "can deliver much needed additional relief" at a time of rising power demand.It will also present a bill on network charges and taxation to ensure electricity is taxed less than fossil fuels.The European Council, comprised of heads of states of the bloc's members, will hold an informal meeting that will include discussion of energy, in Cyprus on Thursday and Friday, the statement said.The Commission will also organise a Clean Energy Investment Summit on an unspecified future data, to bring together institutional investors, industrial leaders, project developers and public financiers.The aim of the event is to accelerate financing of an estimated investment need of 660 billion a year to complete the bloc's energy transition.