Because Draghi doesn’t give up the gas
At the European Council Mario Draghi defended the presence of gas in the energy mix, at least until renewables are sufficiently developed. All the details
The European Council also discussed energy prices, the sharp rise of which – especially those of natural gas – has caused a notable increase in bills. Six EU countries have already taken steps to contain it with specific measures: France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Slovenia and Italy .
WHAT DRAGHI SAID ABOUT GAS
According to the European Commission, the surge in gas prices should stimulate member states to accelerate the energy transition process, reducing dependence on fossil fuels to increase the use of renewable sources.
But – according to the sources of the Sole 24 Ore – during the Council meeting Mario Draghi spent himself in defending gas, defining it as a source to be preserved as long as the presence of renewables (such as wind and solar) in the energy mix has not become sufficient to meet national needs.
Natural gas now occupies a share of more than 40 percent in the Italian system. The European Commission does not establish precise quotas for the distribution of sources in the various national mixes, leaving the choice of the proportions to be given to renewables, gas, nuclear or other to individual governments. Even the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, recently recalled that "the energy mix is a national responsibility".
“Action must be taken as soon as possible to limit increases in the price of energy, to preserve the recovery and safeguard the ecological transition”, said Draghi in his speech to the European Council. In particular, he insisted on the need to develop interconnections between states and to produce inventories of reserves in Europe as soon as possible.
THE GAS RESERVES
The European Commission is evaluating the possibility of establishing a European strategic reserve of natural gas, that is common stocks which it will draw on in times of crisis. It will consist of the collective purchases of gas by the various members of the Union, upon voluntary participation.
The establishment of a strategic reserve had been proposed by Spain (promoter of a more interventionist line than Brussels on the energy issue) and supported by Italy. The idea received backing from the French energy company TotalEnergies. Germany, on the other hand, as stated in Euractiv , is not interested.
WHAT WAS SAID AT THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL
The European Council invited the Commission to study the functioning of the gas and electricity markets. To date, the European electricity market is in fact structured in such a way that the price of electricity is determined by that of the most expensive primary source: in essence, the prices of gas and electricity are linked .
The other request of the Council to the Commission concerns the ETS, or the European market for the trading of "emission quotas" between companies: the system serves to discourage the use of fossil fuels through a progressive increase in the price of these quotas . Although the current situation of rising energy prices – not only in Europe, but around the world – is mainly linked to a gap between gas supply and demand, the higher price of carbon shares has contributed to the rise in tariffs. European energy sources.
The debate between the European institutions and the member countries, however, has not ended but will continue in the coming weeks.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/mario-draghi-gas-consiglio-europeo/ on Fri, 22 Oct 2021 07:12:25 +0000.