EU unveils plan to cut Russian gas imports by two-thirds this year

Strategy to reduce dependency on Russia includes diversifying supplies, reducing fossil fuel use, improving energy efficiency and using more renewables

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says ‘we simply cannot rely on a supplier who explicitly threatens us’

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The European Union is heavily reliant on fossil fuels from Russia, including more than 40 per cent of its gas imports. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:30pm, 9 Mar 2022Updated: 1:01am, 10 Mar 2022

The European Commission on Tuesday outlined a plan to cut gas imports from Russia by two-thirds before the end of the year, as the EU looks to move away from Russian energy sources following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The European Union is heavily reliant on Russian fossil fuels – it imports 90 per cent of its gas, and more than 40 per cent of that comes from Russia. It also gets 27 per cent of oil imports and 46 per cent of coal imports from Russia, according to the commission.

To reduce member states’ dependency, the EU’s executive arm proposed diversifying gas supplies with more liquefied natural gas imports and pipeline imports from countries other than Russia. It also called for reducing fossil fuel use in buildings, homes and industry, and efforts to improve energy efficiency and use more renewables.

Under the plan, the EU’s photovoltaic and wind capacities would be doubled by 2025 and tripled by 2030, which the commission said would cut an estimated 170 billion cubic metres of yearly gas consumption by 2030.

It said that if the measures were fully implemented by EU members, the bloc’s dependence on Russian gas imports could be cut by two-thirds this year and entirely by the end of the decade.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc “must become independent from Russian oil, coal and gas”. Photo: Reuters

“By the end of this year, we can replace 100 billion cubic metres of gas imports from Russia. That is two-thirds of what we import from them,” EU Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans said on Twitter. “With the plan we outline today, the EU can end its dependence on Russian gas and repower Europe.”