On Friday 7 November in Belém (Brazil), in the context of a COP30 round table on the energy transition, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stressed the need to develop grids and storage capacities “commensurate with our ambitions”.
At COP28 in 2023, the parties to the Paris Agreement pledged to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030 (see EUROPE 13313/16).
“Solar and wind power are the fastest-growing sources of electricity in the world. But we also need the infrastructure capable of capturing energy when it is abundant and storing it for use when the time comes”, she declared.
The President pointed out that, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), storage capacity needs to be increased sixfold by 2030. “This is why Europe is investing not only in new renewable energies, but also in the networks and storage capacities that will make these energies reliable for everyone”, she continued.
The European Commission is due to present its ‘networks’ package on 10 December.
In her speech, Ms von der Leyen also welcomed the fact that the Global Energy Transition Forum, launched at the beginning of the year, now has 80 official member countries and has already held three ministerial meetings, in Brussels, Korea and New York. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)