Energy, Environment & Transport Pro Brief |
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Thu 17 October 2024 | View online
Estimated reading time: 4-5 minutes |
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Good morning , And welcome toThursday 17 October’s daily Energy, Environment and Transport Pro Brief.
Yesterday evening France’s long-awaited energy and climate programming law passed the Senate.
And we report on some positive news for hydrogen in west Europe, but with more mixed signals coming from the east.
Here are our other top stories for the day:
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Eastern EU states push for power market intervention, industry counsels caution |
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Having raised the issue of regional price spikes in Tuesday’s Energy Council, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria continue to push the issue in Brussels.
“We have to deal with a 10% increase of yearly electricity prices with no cost increase involved,” said Greek energy minister Theodoros Skylakakis during Tuesday’s Council meeting. Some 10 countries showed support.
Athens is now escalating the issue to an agenda point at today’s meeting of EU leaders and, according to diplomatic sources, is pushing for a joint text to address the issue.
In the latest draft conclusions from the leaders’ meeting, seen by Euractiv yesterday evening, leaders invite “the Commission to urgently propose measures addressing this issue.”
Meanwhile, power sector association Eurelectric is urging caution, warning leaders to “be aware of the unwanted trade-offs in short-term measures,” in a letter seen by Euractiv. [NK] |
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France: Energy, climate programming law passes first step |
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With 220 votes in favour, and 103 against, the French Senate last night adopted the country’s energy and climate programming law.
This draft law, proposed by the Senate and with amendments from the government, sets out France's climate and energy objectives for the coming years, in line with the European framework.
The text planned an additional 27 GW of nuclear power in France by 2050, up from the current 61 GW.
There is currently no agreed path to achieve this target, other than the already-planned six new large-scale reactors (around 10 GW). However senators want to include 14 large-scale reactors and 15 small modular reactors in the country’s plans.
Concerning renewables, the text adopted the government’s targets of 15% of biogas injected into the grid by 2030, and 48 TWh of biofuel production.
On wind and solar power, government amendments ensured that onshore wind power and marine energies are mentioned, against the wishes of the Senate.
However contrary to the government’s wishes, senators included in the text a novel approach concerning hydropower operating licenses. The maneuver is an attempt to resolve the ongoing dispute at European level over the competitive tendering of hydroelectric power.
The 2030 target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% is maintained, as are expected emission reductions in individual sectors.
The text must now pass through the National Assembly, which will likely prove more challenging. [PM] |
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Joint Franco-German ‘Energy Union’ proposal on 2 December |
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As Euractiv wrote last week, a ‘proposal for deliberation’ put forward by a group of French and German MPs will indeed be presented at the next Franco-German joint parliamentary session (APFA) planned for 2 December in Berlin, a source close to one of the signatory MPs told Euractiv.
As a reminder, the text aims to overcome the Franco-German rift over the energy mix, and to focus on cooperation in improving European energy networks, electricity and hydrogen.
It was originally due to be presented at the end of June, however the dissolution of the French National Assembly on 9 June meant this was postponed. [PM] |
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First step for future Franco-Belgian hydrogen pipeline |
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French and Belgian gas transmission operators GRTGaz and Fluxys yesterday launched a call for contributions to assess the needs and economic benefits of creating a 150-kilometre pipeline, linking the industrial port areas of Dunkirk in France with Antwerp and Ghent in Belgium.
The consultation will take place from 16 to 29 October.
This pipeline would form part of the ‘Franco-Belgian Corridor’ with connections between Dunkirk and Bruges, Valenciennes and Feluy, and potentially additional future routes.
The Corridor has been designated as a ‘project of common European interest’ by the European Commssion. [PM] |
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EU hydrogen plans clash with market reality, Slovak experts warn |
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The Slovak transmission system operator Eustream and the gas storage operator Nafta support EU hydrogen initiatives and are developing projects but warn that the lack of guaranteed hydrogen production or consumption makes it difficult to secure a return on investment.
We don't even have hydrogen storage facilities capable of injecting or extracting hydrogen, nor do we have the infrastructure for transport or production,” said Nafta’s Anna Slavkovská at the Slovak Gas and Oil Association conference.
The new EU directive and regulation on renewable gas and natural gas aim to facilitate their integration into the energy system, and implementation is expected by 2026.
In drawing up rules for the emerging hydrogen market, the Commission has used the existing rules for natural gas as a model, but experts have warned that, unlike the hydrogen market, the natural gas market is fully developed.
Slavkovská added that it is "premature" at this stage to impose rules as strict as those on the gas market.
Euractiv followed the conference: read more here on Slovakia’s hydrogen ambitions. |
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These two simple tricks will eliminate 90% of flight delays |
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The CEOs of Europe’s five largest airlines held a press conference in Brussels yesterday, with a list of policy demands for the incoming Commission.
In tune with political priorities, their accompanying open letter to EU institutions, pulled together by European airline association A4E, focused on the theme of competitiveness.
The text called for more support to help the sector transition to sustainable aviation fuel and focused on the risk of ‘business leakage’, posed by non-EU competitors operating in less regulated environments.
The A4E letter also called for action to improve the performance of air space managers – a long-standing bone of contention amongst airlines.
Although the bosses of Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, IAG and easyJet were present, it was Ryanair CEO and A4E President Michael O’Leary who stole the show.
He told journalists that he had “given up” on Europe’s efforts to integrate and improve the bloc’s air space management, and dismissed the initiative as “a 30 year [expletive] demonstration of abject failure.”
O’Leary instead proposed two targeted reforms, which he said would eliminate 90% of aircraft delays.
Firstly protect ‘overflights’ during national strikes by air traffic control, so that flights between surrounding countries are unaffected. And secondly to ensure sufficient staffing of air traffic control when the ‘first wave’ of aircraft depart airports every morning. [DC] |
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Auditors: ‘Little to no impact’ in nearly 40% of EU climate adaptation projects |
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It is difficult to measure progress toward climate adaptation in absolute figures, as the European Court of Auditors (ECA) points out itself.
Nevertheless, an ECA report published on Wednesday evening found issues in the way member states implement EU adaptation strategies.
By examining the national adaptation policies of France, Estonia, Austria and Poland, the auditors discovered that in several cases, the countries were using outdated scientific data and operating on “either underestimates or omissions of the cost of adaptation measures”.
The ECA report determined that 13 of the 36 examined projects had “little or no impact” and two projects may have even led to maladaptation.
The ECA also found 400 municipalities surveyed during the audit “were largely unaware” of EU climate adaptation tools - a concerning finding since “inaction, too, has a cost”, according to the report. [JS] |
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Report: World is off track to meet ocean protection target |
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A new report released this morning by a consortium of nature funders and NGOs finds that only 2.8% of the ocean is likely to be “effectively protected”.
This is in spite of a 2022 commitment by the world’s nations to conserve at least 30% of the Earth’s terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine areas by 2030.
The report finds that the global marine area under some form of protection has increased by just 0.5% since then. At that rate of progress, just 9.7% of the ocean will be protected by 2030.
Commenting on the launch, Melissa Wright, who leads the Bloomberg Ocean Initiative, said that “the majority of existing and new marine protected areas are unlikely to provide meaningful protection to marine biodiversity.”
In order to achieve this objective, the report recommends extending marine protected areas; making them more protected; empowering indigenous peoples and local communities; providing more funding for biodiversity protection’ and developing data collection.
Last month Euractiv reported on the EU’s marine protected areas, which scientists found offered weak protection to nature. [NC] |
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Finland, Norway to improve rail links for military use |
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Finland and Norway plan to improve rail and road links between the countries for military use, Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said at a briefing in Oslo during the state visit of Finnish President Alexander Stubbs.
The move is part of the EU's Military Mobility Initiative, which aims to cut red tape, develop common standards, and identify routes between members of the initiative to reduce delays and facilitate the movement of troops and equipment.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, military mobility across Europe has become more important, as Ukraine's allies have had to send all kinds of defence equipment across the bloc or from the other side of the Atlantic.
At the briefing, Stubb told attendees to remember that “Finland is like an island.” |
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Opinion: German industry crashes Habeck’s subsidy party |
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Today’s brief was brought to you by Euractiv’s Energy, Environment & Transport team |
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Today’s briefing was prepared by the Energy, Environment and Transport team: Donagh Cagney, Nathan Canas, Paul Messad, Nikolaus J.Kurmayer and Bárbara Machado, but not with the keen eyes of any proofreaders. Share your feedback or information with us at [email protected]. |
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