BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 3
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The European Union could reduce its imports of Russian natural gas by more than one-third within a year, Trend reports with reference to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The agency recommends 10 points to achieve this goal:
1) No new gas supply contracts with Russia;
2) Replace Russian supplies with gas from alternative sources;
3) Introduce minimum gas storage obligations, which will enhance resilience of the gas system by next winter;
4) Accelerate the deployment of new wind and solar projects to reduces gas use by 6 billion cubic metres within a year;
5) Maximize power generation from bioenergy and nuclear to reduce gas use by 13 billion cubic metres within a year;
6) Enact short-term tax measures on windfall profits to shelter vulnerable electricity consumers from high prices;
7) Speed up the replacement of gas boilers with heat pumps, which reduces gas use by an additional 2 billion cubic metres within a year;
8) Accelerate energy efficiency improvements in buildings and industry to reduce gas use by close to 2 billion cubic metres within a year;
9) Encourage a temporary thermostat reduction of 1 °C by consumers, which reduces gas use by some 10 billion cubic metres within a year;
10) Step up efforts to diversify and decarbonize sources of power system flexibility
In 2021, the European Union imported 155 billion cubic metres of natural gas from Russia, accounting for around 45 percent of EU gas imports and close to 40 percent of its total gas consumption.
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