In the margins of the Energy Council, the member countries of the Nuclear Alliance and Friends of Renewables met again (see EUROPE 133362/8) on the morning of Monday 4 March to discuss their respective priorities in the run-up to the European elections and the upcoming renewal of the European Commission.
One year after its creation at the initiative of France, the Nuclear Alliance brought together 12 Member States (Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden) at another meeting, along with Italy (as an observer) and Belgium (which did not sign the joint press release).
Nuclear Alliance
Following in the footsteps of former French energy minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher (see EUROPE 13356/36), the French Minister for the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, stated on his arrival at the EU Council: “We will not succeed economically or industrially in the 21st century without nuclear energy”.
In a joint press release, the countries of the alliance welcomed the recognition of the role of nuclear energy alongside renewable energy in decarbonisation objectives, and the launch of the European Alliance for Small Modular Reactors (SMR).
“Opinions have evolved on the energy transition and the question of the energy mix, with everyone recognising that technological neutrality is probably the best option and that the only thing that matters is reducing greenhouse gas emissions”, Mr Le Maire welcomed, adding that “now that we agree on that, we need to move on to the practical work, i.e. building energy capacity - whether renewable or nuclear - that we need to achieve our decarbonisation targets”.
However, one of the main difficulties remains access to funding. The members therefore discussed the idea of launching a specific working group to explore the options and benefits of funding instruments such as EIB support, the Innovation Fund, State aid guidelines and IPCEI (see EUROPE 13362/8).
They also called for an open discussion on broadening the European Hydrogen Bank (see EUROPE 13354/11) to the production of ‘low carbon’ hydrogen from electrolysis. Mr Le Maire also discussed this point with the Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, during a bilateral exchange.
To see the joint press release: https://aeur.eu/f/b4b
Friends of Renewables
The Friends of Renewables meeting brought together 13 countries (Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain) at the initiative of Austria.
The Austrian energy minister, Leonore Gewessler, celebrated the fact that her country produces 87% of its electricity from renewable sources. “It is also the solution that we are proposing for Europe, that we want to move forward in Europe, and this alliance is a very important part of our work”, she emphasised.
In a press release, the members stated that, as part of the climate objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040, renewable energy sources will account for up to 75% of the Union’s gross final energy consumption and 90% of electricity consumption in 2040, involving more than 2,000 GW of installed generation capacity.
When asked about technology neutrality at EU level and the investment that other Member States are seeking in nuclear energy, German State Secretary Sven Giegold said that he currently saw “more paperwork on nuclear energy than actual investment. So we need to act where there is a new competitive energy source, and that clearly means renewable energy on a global scale”.
The Friends of Renewables are calling for a clear investment framework to attract and coordinate private and public investment, and a number of policy measures from the Commission to further accelerate the deployment of renewables and the flexibility of the energy system, with a focus on network infrastructure.
To see the joint press release: https://aeur.eu/f/b4c (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)