The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, defended this Tuesday that energy saving “is vital for energy security” of the European Union (EU), when the voluntary objective of reducing gas consumption comes into force.
Our emergency plan to reduce gas demand across the EU is already underway and several Member States have already taken valuable and voluntary steps towards our goal: together we aim to reduce gas use by at least 15%,” wrote Ursula von der Leyen, in a publication on the social network Twitter.
The leader of the community executive has assured that “energy saving is vital for Europe’s energy security”, at a time when it is feared a Russian supply cut to the EU.
The objective of voluntarily reducing gas consumption in the EU by 15% comes into force this Tuesday, until spring 2023, with the aim of increasing storage in the Member States and creating a “cushion” in the event of a possible interruption in supply from Russia.
The voluntary target to reduce gas consumption comes into force this Tuesday in the EU
The entry into force of the regulation, published this Monday in the Official Journal of the EU, follows the political agreement reached at the end of July in Brussels, when the 27 reached a compromise on the proposal presented by the European Commission with a view to reducing consumption of gas by 15% between the current month of August and March 31, 2023, but with new exceptions to cover the geographical or physical situation of the countries.
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The compromise was formally adopted by the EU Council last Friday, by a qualified majority, with Hungary and Poland voting against it.
Therefore, it is expected that, in order to increase the security of the EU’s energy supply this winter, there will be a voluntary reduction in natural gas consumption of around 15%, an objective that is still may differ between countriessince exemptions and exceptions have been introduced to take into account the particular situations of the Member States.
With the regulations already in force, the possibility of triggering a “Guild alert” before shortagesscenario in which the decrease in gas demand would become mandatory.
Portugal, for example, “is one of those countries that, due to the weakness of interconnections, may see its objective reduced by eight percentage points with respect to the initially defined objective, if a gas reduction obligation is created,” reported the minister. Environment, Duarte Cordeiro.
In addition, Portugal “can deduce a set of circumstances” in which it also finds itself, “such as the production of electricity in the security of the system or the need to use gas as a raw material in essential industries or sectors,” he added. the minister, in statements made after the political agreement in the EU a week ago.
In mid-July, the European Commission proposed a target of reducing the EU’s gas consumption by 15% for the spring, admitting a mandatory drop in demand in an alert situation.
The objective is that, by March 31, 2023, the Member States reduce their consumption of natural gas by 15% (with respect to the historical average in that period, considering the years 2017 to 2021), in order to increase the European storage level and create a security ‘cushion’ for emergency situations.
Geopolitical tensions due to the war in Ukraine have affected the European energy market, as the EU imports 90% of the gas it consumes, with Russia responsible for around 45% of these imports, at varying levels between member states.
In Portugal, in 2021, Russian gas represented less than 10% of the total imported.
Source: Observadora
