Internal market for heat

At the beginning of summer 2021, gas prices started increasing tremendously globally due to a wide array of factors, from an exceptionally cold winter in Europe in 2020, to macroeconomic fallouts of the COVID 19 pandemic, without mentioning geopolitics, to technical issues in infrastructure bottlenecks of the fossil fuel production infrastructure.

Brussels, 15 December 2021 – Today the European Commission has released its proposals for establishing a new EU framework to decarbonise gas markets, promote hydrogen and reduce methane emissions.

Following the sharp increase in electricity and gas prices over the summer, and as consequences are increasingly being felt by European households with the beginning of the winter heating season, EGEC wrote a letter to the European Council and the European Commission.

The European Commission launched a public Inception Impact Assessment consultation on the Hydrogen and Gas Decarbonisation Package. The aim is to review the EU's rules on the role of gas and all forms of hydrogen into the context of the Fit for 55% package. It also covers access to markets for geothermal energy and other renewable energy solutions.

EGEC sent a letter to the Commission recommending a full review of the impact of the competitive distortion of the Internal Market for Gas legal base as well as its associated direct and indirect fossil fuel subsidies on the provision of renewable heating and cooling services, particularly competition from geothermal energy sources.

EGEC answers  to the questions posed by the European Commission on the Smart Sector Integration strategy.

This note calls for a forward-looking, modern, secure and smart energy network infrastructure to reach climate neutrality in 2050.

The GEORISK Consortium sent an open letter to DG Energy Director-General Ditte Juul Jørgensen, European Commission, calling for the establishment of an EU risk management scheme for geothermal energy. In particular, this scheme should be tied to instruments that structure the European energy market such as TEN-E or the Connecting Europe Facility.

Today EGEC together with five renewable associations sent a joint letter to Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for the Green Deal, and Kadri Simson, Commissioner for Energy, proposing for an EU Tender Scheme which makes the Green Recovery Plan more inclusive.

Today EGEC sent a letter to Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for the Green Deal, and Kadri Simson, Commissioner for Energy, requesting that the Green Recovery Plan includes investment in all renewable energy sectors.