EU plan to wean itself off Russian gas before the end of this decade, and reduce has demand by two-thirds this year.
A mix of sourcing gas from elsewhere and scaling up renewables is meant to slash demand for Russian imports by two-thirds this year.
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The EU could be entirely free of its Russian gas dependence before the end of the decade, according to a
master planreleased Tuesday.
The European Commission said its strategy rests on two pillars: Diversifying the EU’s gas supply to replace Russian imports in the short term, and scaling up the deployment of renewables and energy-saving measures for the long run.
The plan was delayed by a week as the Commission scrambled to rework what was supposed to be a strategy for dealing with sky-high power prices and turn it into a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia supplies about 40 percent of the bloc’s total gas consumption, but the Commission says that with the measures presented Tuesday, the EU “can reach independence from Russian gas well before the end of the decade" and reduce its demand for imports from Russia by two-thirds this year.
Next month, a “gas storage policy” will set out a requirement to fill up gas storage across the EU by at least 90 percent by October 1 each year, according to the communication — up from 80 percent in a previous draft.
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The plan is set to be discussed by EU leaders during their meeting in Versailles later this week.
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