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With summer approaching, facing the "crisis of next winter", the time left for the EU is running out. On Wednesday local time, the European Commission disclosed the details of the "REpower EU" energy transformation plan as scheduled. Based on the version released on March 8, the plan adds some energy reform measures to get rid of dependence on fossil fuels in Russia and accelerate the green transformation of the EU as a whole.

In his speech on the same day, European Commission President von delaine said that in order to stop importing any fossil fuels from Russia by 2030, the EU will spend 300 billion euros, which is compared to the turbocharged engine of the EU's energy transformation.

a pressing matter of the moment

The EU said frankly that the fastest and most economical way to face the "crisis of next winter" is to use less energy. The EU expects to reduce oil and gas demand by 5% through a series of short-term behavior changes. Therefore, the EU encourages countries to launch publicity campaigns and adopt financial means to encourage energy-saving measures, such as reducing value-added tax rates on application products such as heating equipment and insulation equipment with higher energy efficiency.

The European Commission has also formulated emergency measures in case of serious supply interruption, and will issue priority guidelines for energy use. Subsequently, it will also promote the coordinated demand reduction plan in a region.

In the diversified energy supply initiative, the EU also announced that it is considering establishing a "common procurement mechanism", which will negotiate the procurement of natural gas on behalf of all Member States. The platform can also be used to purchase renewable hydrogen energy. Subsequently, the EU will also consider legislative measures to require Member States to diversify their natural gas supply over time.

Of course, the EU is still thinking about the global strategy when considering the energy transformation. The EU also released the "external energy strategy" on Wednesday to further promote green energy diplomacy in combination with the "global portal policy". In the Mediterranean and North Sea regions, the EU will strive to build a major "hydrogen corridor". The EU also announced that it would continue to cooperate with Ukraine to ensure the function and safety of the energy sector, which also paved the way for the future trade in electricity and renewable hydrogen.

New energy boom

Under the framework of "fit for 55", the European Commission will increase the proportion of renewable energy in the total energy supply of the EU in 2030 from 40% to 45%.

This means that the installed capacity of renewable energy in the EU is expected to increase from 511 GW at present to 1236 GW in 2030.

First, the European Commission plans to increase the installed photovoltaic capacity in the EU to 320 GW by 2025, double that in 2020. In 2030, the installed capacity of PV will reach 600 GW, becoming the main power source in the EU, more than half of which comes from roof solar capacity.

It is estimated that by 2027, the EU's new photovoltaic capacity can offset 9 billion cubic meters of natural gas consumption each year.

In order to achieve the above objectives, the European Commission has proposed a legally binding European Solar rooftops initiative. The plan requires governments to significantly expand rooftop photovoltaic.

By 2026, all new public buildings and commercial buildings with a roof area of more than 250 square meters in the EU must be forced to install roof photovoltaic; By 2027, PV must be installed on the roofs of all existing buildings that meet the conditions; By 2029, all new residential buildings must be equipped with roof photovoltaic.

In addition, the plan defines the role of photovoltaic in transportation, industry and other fields, and encourages the EU to develop vehicle integration photovoltaic and photovoltaic building integration (bivp).

EU countries will also take measures to integrate geothermal and solar energy into modern regional and public heating systems to replace fossil fuel heating. The European Commission plans to double the current deployment speed of heat pumps and reach 10 million units in the next five years.

Hydrogen energy is also an important part of the EU's future new energy system. The plan puts forward the goal that by 2030, the EU's renewable hydrogen output will reach 10 million tons and the import of renewable hydrogen will reach 10 million tons. The European Commission will support the construction of three hydrogen import corridors through the Mediterranean, the North Sea and Ukraine.

In terms of biomass energy, the European Commission hopes that the EU can achieve an annual production of 35 billion cubic meters of biomethane by 2030. This biomethane will be used in industry, electricity and heating, directly replacing natural gas.

The plan does not emphasize the construction of wind energy. However, at the "North Sea Offshore Wind Power Summit" held on May 18, the heads of government of Denmark, Germany, Belgium and the four countries jointly promised to increase the installed capacity of offshore wind power in the four countries by 10 times by 2050, from the current 16 GW to 150 GW; In 2030, the total installed capacity of offshore wind power will reach 65 GW.

In order to speed up the construction of renewable energy, the European Commission also put forward a legislative proposal to shorten the approval time of relevant projects. For example, the approval time of roof photovoltaic installation needs to be shortened to three months. At present, it takes several years to obtain the wind farm license and pass the solar energy installation approval.

Where did the money come from

For the most critical source of funds, the European Commission expects that the implementation of the plan will cost an additional 210 billion euros of EU funds by 2027. By 2030, the plan will cost 300 billion euros.

Among them, 86 billion euros are invested in renewable energy, 27 billion euros in hydrogen energy infrastructure, 29 billion euros in power grid and 56 billion euros in energy conservation and heat pump.

The EU calls the money a "mortgage" for regional independence and security. The EU also calculated that by simply interrupting the purchase of Russian fossil fuels, 100 billion euros could be saved. Of course, there is no calculation of the additional cost of importing natural gas from the Middle East and the United States.

In order to support the REpower EU project, the amount of loans currently available under the European recovery fund reaches 225 billion euros. The European Commission also proposed to increase the amount of RRF and provide 20 billion euros in grants through the stable auction of the EU Emission Trading System quota held by the current market stability reserve (MSR).

The EU also said that in the current multi-year financial framework (MFF), the support for carbon reduction and green transformation projects can reach up to 100 billion euros. Next, 26.9 billion euros may be transferred voluntarily from the integration fund to the RRF, and 7.5 billion euros may also be transferred from the common agricultural policy.

It is difficult to stabilize prices

The European Commission also said on the same day that it hopes to curb the rising energy prices in the EU region by jointly purchasing natural gas and providing fuel subsidies.

Since last year, global energy market demand has recovered and natural gas prices have continued to rise. Since the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, European energy prices have repeatedly hit new highs. The high prices of electricity, gas and fuel have seriously affected the people's livelihood in many European countries.

The European Commission said it would introduce short-term measures to minimize the impact of rising energy prices on consumers. The European Commission also acknowledged that energy prices may remain high in the next three years, especially this year.

This is the ruble banknote photographed in the Russian capital Moscow on March 24. Photographed by Xinhua News Agency reporter Bai Xueqi

As it is difficult to afford energy costs, some EU countries have taken measures such as power rationing and energy conservation. The European Commission said that some measures will continue until the end of this year, including limiting energy pricing for end users, injecting working capital into energy enterprises and traders, and joint EU procurement to improve bargaining power.

The European Commission also said that if Russia stops supplying gas to the EU, the European Commission will seek internal "group heating" and coordinate with each other: countries less affected by the gas cut-off will take the initiative to reduce the use of natural gas, so as to give priority to the access of more affected Member States to natural gas.

Experts said that enterprises generally purchase natural gas independently. If the EU wants Member States to purchase gas in groups, the operation is more complex and will not help solve the energy crisis in the short term.