European Commission has proposed a plan to make Europe independent from Russian fossil fuels well before 2030

On March 8 the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen made the following statement:

“We are too dependent on Russian fossils fuels. We must ensure a reliable, secure, and affordable supply of energy to European consumers. With the #EUGreenDeal, we know how to get there. But we need to move faster.

This is what REPowerEU is about.

REPowerEU will diversify our gas supplies, speed up the renewable roll-out, improve energy efficiency and replace gas in heating and power. It can reduce our demand for Russian gas by 2/3 before the end of the year.

We will also help consumers and businesses face increased energy prices and prepare for next winter.

More guidance on price regulation for consumers
• Potential new State Aid Temporary Framework for businesses
• Upcoming proposal on minimum gas storage to secure supply”

Read more about REPowerEU here: https://europa.eu/!FvttMN

This is message coincides well with the 10-point plan presented by IEA last week. Deployment of heat pumps contributes to replacing gas for heating as well as to speeding up renewables roll-out and the plan proposes to double the planned yearly pace of deployment of heat pumps in the coming years. The accelerated market deployment of heat pumps will require rapid upscaling of the entire supply chain and be accompanied by measures to boost building renovation and district heating system modernization.

The European Heat Pump Association has responded to this communication by stating that the industry is ready to deliver and is proposing the Commission to implement this acceleration by establishing an “EU Heat Pump Accelerator” that considers all measures necessary to make installing heat pump technologies easy and affordable for end-users and to adjust legislation accordingly, see further their press release here.