A practical approach to energy could support EU competitiveness – GIE

• EU energy policy must be less ideological in next five years, GIE conference hears
• Lowering high energy prices, which harm industry, a key goal for incoming Commission
• Commissioner confirmation hearings to take place 4-12 November

MUNICH (ICIS)–The incoming European Commission must move away from ideological energy policy if it hopes to stabilize prices and keep industry competitive, delegates heard at the Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) conference in Munich on 17-18 October.

However, despite an announced focus on a ‘clean industrial deal’, doubts remain that Europe can apply the lessons learned from the energy crisis.

Speaking to ICIS on the sidelines, Tsvetelina Penkova, vice-chair of the European Parliament’s energy and industry committee said the thought the upcoming commissioner hearings would be “dynamic”, though she hoped the meetings would be constructive rather than unpleasant.

Nominated commissioners must be confirmed by the European Parliament before they can take up their roles. Hearings are scheduled for 4-12 November.

“The problem is quite a lot of topics are overlapping [in commissioners’ portfolios], so it’s very difficult to distinguish exactly the area of expertise,” she said, citing concerns over who would ultimately be responsible for decisions and the time involved if multiple people sign off policies.

Penkova told delegates that fluctuations in energy prices between different regions harmed competitiveness and energy security.

The discrepancy “really depends on the energy source that’s being used at the moment,” she said, as a lack of proper grid interconnections created bottlenecks, and without fixing this Europe’s energy landscape would remain dominated by local, regional or national solutions.

The topic of surging heatwave-driven power prices experienced in central and southeastern Europe also dominated a meeting of EU energy ministers in Luxembourg on 15 October.

Penkova called for energy resilience as well as a diversity of sources, including renewables, hydrogen, ammonia and other carriers, alongside storage and flexibility solutions.

“We must understand that dependency only on one single sector or energy source is naive. That’s definitely not going to work,” she said.

GIE president-elect Arno Bux stressed to delegates that gas infrastructure would remain vital for decades to come, citing nascent hydrogen, biomethane and carbon dioxide markets.

“We all know pipelines … are by far the most efficient way to transport and store energy,” he said.

But the industry was hindered by 1990s-era regulation, Bux said, which failed to foresee the need to maintain and expand infrastructure under uncertain conditions or the costs involved.

NUCLEAR SCEPTICISM?

Penkova dismissed concerns over nuclear skepticism previously voiced by the nominees for energy commissioner, Denmark’s Dan Jorgensen, and executive vice-president Teresa Ribera from Spain, tasked with delivering the ‘clean, just and competitive transition’.

Noting that the parliament considered nuclear generation as strategic and sustainable technology, Penkova told ICIS she didn’t foresee any change in Europe’s policy, but instead hoped for better integration.

“When we’re speaking of nuclear waste, we shouldn’t be looking only [at] the countries that are producing nuclear energy, but also at countries that are consuming [it], because we are all part of the waste creation,” she said.

CLEAN AND INDUSTRIAL

Ilaria Conti, gas expert and coordinator for strategy and development at the Florence School of Regulation, told delegates it was important the EU had not watered down its commitment to decarbonize, instead aiming to use industry as the “engine” of the transition.

The shift followed the results of European parliamentary elections in June, which saw a perceived backlash against green policies.

“The election results forced people to realise that achieving climate neutrality targets on time but losing the economy and the electorate along the way was unhelpful, ” said Niko Bosnjak, head of policy and communication at the German grid operator OGE.

Bosnjak said he worried that there was less urgency for policymakers to act since the pressure had eased, despite net-zero goals rapidly approaching.

“I’m afraid we’re getting into the regular slump that we’ve been in before. I’m not saying I’m all for crises, ok? I think no one wants that, but we need to do better a better job in translating the learnings,” he said.

For example, Bosnjak wondered why there was not middle ground between the 9-month construction of an LNG-import pipeline during the crisis and the return to an average of 6-8 years to build infrastructure.

Conti said she thought plans to make the Commission more interdependent was “actually in my opinion a very smart move by Ursula von der Leyen.”

The overlapping briefs would hopefully force incoming commissioners to cooperate, Conti said, breaking down past silos where each commissioner focused only on their own portfolio.