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19.05.2022

GREEN POWER INSTEAD OF RUSSIAN FOSSIL FUELS. THE REPowerEU Plan

The European Commission on Wednesday 18 May published its plan setting out how the European Union can eliminate its dependency on Russian fossil fuels, as EU convinced that those “enormous funds that russia receives for the export of its fossil fuels help it to continue to wage war against Ukraine.

The plan covers four main areas:

  • energy efficiency and savings;
  • energy supply diversification;
  • clean-energy transition acceleration;
  • investment and reform.

REPowerEU emphasises the acceleration of green technologies, from solar photovoltaic to wind, and heat pumps to green hydrogen – and proposes to increase the EU’s headline 2030 target for renewables from 40% to 45%. The REPowerEU Plan would bring the total renewable energy generation capacities to 1,236 GW by 2030, in comparison to the 1,067 GW by 2030, envisaged under Fit for 55 for 2030.

The EU is betting on the development of offshore wind energy, the wind resource of which “is stable and powerful, while the public support is high.” In light of the Action Plan, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Esbjerg where the Heads of Government of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium signed a declaration on the expansion of offshore wind in the North Sea.

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On the same day, the European Commission approved the Plan for the post-war recovery of Ukraine according to which the European Commission plans to allocate up to € 9 billion to Ukraine this year and is preparing a plan to rebuild the country. “Reconstruction of Ukraine should run in line with the European Green Deal and digital agenda, it must strengthen and respect the fundamental principles of the rule of law, including anti-corruption, the judiciary, public administration,” the Plan stipulates.