What else does the EU’s draft proposal suggest?

📝 Temporary intra-day price-spike caps on TTF. Last week, Italy, Poland, Greece, Belgium signed a document suggesting a central value should be set, with allowance for up to 5% of fluctuations and regular revision based on external parameters such as the price of crude oil and gas in North America and Asia.

🔖 The European Agency for Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) coming up with a price benchmark for liquefied natural gas (LNG)

🤝 Joint purchases as a solidarity mechanism to avoid stark disparities while keeping gas demands from jumping up

Where else can the EU get energy from?

Implementing such a price cap is no easy feat. Arriving at a consensus is only the first problem. Establishing the appropriate caps and corridors without artificially suppressing prices or affecting demand and supply remain a challenge.

To avoid paying more money for less Russian gas, the EU has inked deals to get LNG or pipeline gas from the US 🇺🇸, Algeria 🇩🇿, Azerbaijan 🇦🇿, and others. Norway 🇳🇴 is already delivering more gas to the EU than Russia. It’s also trying to move towards LNG and interconnectors to reduce reliance on Russian oil.

In the long-term, renewable sources like hydrogen and biomethane are coming into focus. A month ago, the European Parliament approved the proposal to increase the target in the Renewable Energy Directive from 40% to 45% by 2030. The Commission earlier proposed reducing energy consumption in 2030 by 9% compared to 2020—now it’s pushing to up the target to 13%.

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💡 Power-hungry Europe is leaving developing countries starving for electricity

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