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NEWS ROUND-UP
From EU-wide energy plans to new partnerships between organisations, greener fuel is at the forefront of many current global strategies
TAKING THE INITIATIVE The European Commission has set up a new Task Force within its DirectorateGeneral for Energy to provide support to the EU Energy Platform and implement the REPowerEU goal of supply diversification. Following a mandate from the European Council in March 2022, the Commission and Member States have established the EU Energy Platform to co-ordinate measures to secure energy supplies for the EU, including through the voluntary common purchase of pipeline gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen. The new Task Force will help deliver on the REPowerEU objective of reducing dependence on Russian fossil fuels, by enabling member states and neighbouring countries to have access to alternative energy supplies at affordable prices in the coming years. Endowed with €195bn, the plan aims to stop importing Russian fossil fuels by 2027 focusing on three and strategies: scaling up renewables, mobilising energy savings and diversifying energy sources.
Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, says: “In our REPowerEU plan, we outlined how Europe can get rid of Russian fossil fuels. Now we are giving ourselves the tools to make it happen. It is time to diversify our energy supplies and make best use of our infrastructure. The Energy Platform Task Force will contribute to Europe’s energy security and independence. Through the collective political and economic weight of the EU’s 27 Member States and 440m citizens, we will work to ensure affordable and secure energy imports.” The European Environmental Bureau (EEB), the largest European network of green NGOs, has welcomed the unprecedented boost in renewables envisaged in the plan. “Deploying millions of solar panels and heat pumps, coupled with building renovation and energy efficiency measures, take us one step closer to being on track with our Paris Agreement Commitment and are our best tools to isolate Putin’s regime,” says Patrick ten Brink, Deputy Secretary-
C L E A N S H I P P I N G INTERNATIONAL – Summer 2022
