This energy ministers European Union they closed this tuesday political agreement for extend one more year the voluntary reduction of consumption by 15% natural gas. The measure in effect since 1 August ended at the end of March and will now be extended Until 31 March 2024 To ensure the EU is prepared for the coming winter. According to data from the Community Executive, since the measure was adopted, consumption of this fuel in the EU has fallen by 19.3% through January to mitigate the impact of possible interruptions in supply.
The Twenty-Sevens adopted the measure as part of a contingency plan to respond to the energy crisis engendered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 5 August. The main aim is to promote a voluntary and coordinated reduction in consumption, but the regulation also provides European governments with the ability to activate a “European alert” in case of supply problems mandating demand reduction, but so far it has been. It was not necessary to activate.
“Thanks to voluntary contributions, gas demand across the EU fell by more than 19% between August and January 2023, exceeding the 15% target, saving Europe about 42 billion m³ of gas,” the energy commissioner said last March 20. kadri simson, on the occasion of the presentation of the proposal. The strongest decreases by country correspond to Lithuania (-40.5%) and Sweden (-40.2%), ahead of the major EU countries: Germany (-19.4%), Italy (-18.6%) , France (-17.1%) and Spain (-13.7%). Only Ireland (-0.3%), Slovakia (+4.6%) and Malta (+12.1%) recorded lower savings during this period.
monthly data
On 20 March, the European Commission proposed extending the measure Twenty-seven supported this Tuesday for another year, until 31 March 2024. The agreement includes that European governments will have to transmit savings data monthly rather than bimonthly. In addition, reports will now need to be run on a sector-by-sector basis to improve the monitoring and targeting of national measures.
“Our joint efforts to reduce gas demand have been instrumental in getting us through this winter safely. We have made good progress in diversifying supply and reducing our dependence on Russia, but global gas markets are likely to remain strained in the months ahead. Further reductions in gas demand will ensure we prepare for the coming winter and will facilitate the achievement of the 90% gas storage target by November 1”, Simson justified the need to extend the measure two weeks ago.
Source: Informacion
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