EU and US pledge to reinforce energy cooperation ahead of next winter

The European Union and the US have renewed their dedication to make sure power safety whereas accelerating the inexperienced transition after an extended and troublesome 12 months for Europe. 

The battle in Ukraine and the rise on power costs it triggered have deepened the EU’s power relationship with the US.

The EU-US Vitality Council met in Brussels and mentioned, specifically, the outlook for subsequent winter, together with the scenario in Ukraine and Moldova.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s Excessive Consultant, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated their intentions in addition to “recognised the unprecedented intensification of cooperation, coordination, and exchanges between the 2 sides within the context of Russia’s battle of aggression towards Ukraine”.

Individuals mentioned easy methods to speed up decarbonisation by means of clean-energy applied sciences and power financial savings, whereas making certain that the clean-energy transition is socially simply.

The assembly got here one 12 months after the institution of the Joint Process Drive on Vitality Safety which goals at lowering the EU’s reliance on Russian power.

“Over the previous 12 months, the US and Europe have thrown our power safety cooperation into even greater gear. In 2022, the US exported 56 billion cubic meters of liquefied pure gasoline to Europe. That’s 40% of Europe’s whole imports. It is 140% improve over our LNG exports to Europe the earlier 12 months”, stated Blinken.

Between August 2022 and January 2023, the EU lowered its general demand for pure gasoline by 19 p.c, together with by reducing electrical energy use, enhancing power effectivity within the residential sector, and figuring out new digital options to assist customers get monetary savings.

“We’ve seen a major improve within the deployment of photo voltaic panels, for instance, throughout Europe. We’ve seen a pointy acceleration within the deployment of warmth pumps that permit households to mainly do away with the gasoline boiler at residence,” a senior fellow at Bruegel, informed Euronews.

“So, we’re actually seeing unprecedented steps to decrease the European reliance on gasoline” from each the business and households, he added. 

The EU and US additionally got here collectively to help Ukraine’s power wants. Along with their G7 companions they delivered greater than 4,000 energy mills, 1,000 transformers, and greater than 5 million items of kit, like circuit breakers and cables, to assist restore and exchange the nation’s battered power grid.