BRUSSELS (KUNA) – Clean hydrogen has great potential to become a major new source of energy and it is one of the priorities in the European Unionآ’s strategy on the Gulf Cooperation Council, (GCC), EU High Representative Josep Borrell said here Monday.
“Clean hydrogen has great potential to become a major new source of energy and some of the existing infrastructure including pipelines could be re-purposed. This is one of the priorities under the EU strategy with the Gulf that we adopted last May,” he wrote in his personal blog titled “Europeآ’s energy balancing act,” published by the EU External Action Service (EEAS) today. A large part of the EUآ’s alternative gas needs could also be ensured simply with better management of oil and gas production and transit facilities, he noted.
Borrell warned that “Europe is facing a perfect storm: energy prices are up, economic growth is down and winter is coming. The Kremlin is using energy as a political weapon.” “We must prepare ourselves for a possible gas cut-off, principally through savings, diversification, and solidarity among us. At the same time, we must accelerate investments in renewables and wage a global campaign for energy efficiency and savings to ensure sustainable energy access to all,” wrote the EU Foreign Policy chief.
“Winter comes every year but the one we face promises to be exceptional. There is real uncertainty over whether the EU will have enough gas whether it will be affordable,” he asked.
Borrell noted that while oil prices have come down to where they were at the start of the war in Ukraine, gas prices are more than four times the price of end-February and almost ten times what they were a year ago.
“We have already managed to cope with an overall reduction in the share of Russian gas imports from 40 percent at the beginning of the year to around 20 percent today, principally by buying more LNG, whose share of gas usage has doubled from 19 percent to 37 percent. We have also made progress in buying more pipeline gas from Norway, Algeria and Azerbaijan,” he said.
Borrell concluded his blog by calling for a global campaign around energy efficiency and savings, adding that “in the coming months I will invest in helping building the necessary coalition.”
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