Prime Minister Donald Tusk outlines his vision of the EU's proposed energy union in Tychy, southern Poland, 29.03.2014. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Grygiel
Speaking during a cornerstone laying ceremony for a new power block in the southern town of Tychy, Prime Minister Tusk laid out his vision for a union whose main assumptions include the diversification of energy sources, including the extraction shale gas and coal.
“Taking into account the danger of potential gas crises, we should construct more effective mechanisms for ‘gas solidarity’ in the event of a crisis in gas deliveries,” Tusk said.
“We have already had such a crisis which affected our southern neighbours and it was then that for the first time such an issue of European unity arose,” he continued.
PM Tusk said that he would want to get the EU to pay up to 75 percent of the funds necessary for the infrastructure needed to be able to create an efficient network under the guise of gas solidarity, including pipelines and interconnectors between member states.
Single front
However, one of Tusk’s main ideas would be the single common EU purchasing of gas from outside suppliers. The move comes as European politicians have mooted the need to be able to trade as a single bloc in diversifying its energy needs, especially with Russia.
The idea to create such a union has the backing of EU Council President Herman van Rompuy, and the European Commission is expected to come up with a proposal by June on how such an energy union would function.
“We have worked on a number of ideas which could make the EU a sort of ‘power buyer’, thanks to which countries which supply energy to Europe will not be able to slap tough conditions onto delivery contracts as they have done up until now. The key is to build unity among member states at the European level,” Tusk underlined.
Other strategies put forward by the Prime Minister include raising the profile of coal as a source of energy, as well as investments in shale gas and diversification of energy sources, such as the possibility to import liquid natural gas (LNG) from the USA.
Russian gas to be replaced by other sources?
Meanwhile, according to the Brussels-based think-tank Breugel, the EU could replace all of the gas it receives from Russia within a year. “It would be a significant challenge, but not impossible,” states a report released recently.
The EU imported 130 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia in 2013, although with significant adjustments to its energy policy, it could be possible to replace Russian gas with other sources.
The Breugel report proposes increasing gas imports from North Africa and Norway, importing more LNG, as well as switching energy consumption from natural gas to other fuels. (jb)
Source: IAR/Puls Biznesu