Photo: ABC News

The European Commission has announced its commitment to attaining sustainable and renewable energy by 2027. The document detailing these steps was published on Wednesday.

The REPowerEU plan details Europe’s “clean energy transition.” The document emphasizes energy savings and its importance and local energy sources. However, the Commission has announced that they will be utilizing existing coal power plants longer than expected in order to cover up for increased consumer demand. There’s no definite date on when they would stop depending on the facilities, only that the Commission stated they might use it a little longer.

The Commission sets 210 billion euros as the budget ($220.87 billion) for the plan, which is set to start this year and will be completed by 2027. The Commission also changed the current target of their renewable share of energy from 40% to 45% by 2030.

The governments of Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands have announced their intention to find renewable energy sources. They aim for a combined target of 65 gigawatts from offshore winds by 2030, with an additional 150GW reached by 2050.

Problems during transition

While Russia remains the largest supplier of oil in Europe, its supply has been cut because they are currently invading Ukraine. According to the Commission, it would require an estimated 1.5 to 2 billion euros to secure sources that would meet consumer demands.

According to the Commission, “…shifting away from Russian fossil fuels will also require targeted investments for the security of supply in gas infrastructure and very limited changes to oil infrastructure alongside large-scale investments in the electricity grid and an EU-wide hydrogen backbone.”

Further, “In parallel, some of the existing coal capacities might also be used longer than initially expected, with a role for nuclear power and domestic gas resources too.”

The Commission’s climate chief, Frans Timmermans, has admitted that coal might be needed ‘a bit longer’ — posing threats to emissions. 

“If we can actually do what I say — reduce our energy consumption in combination with a speedier introduction of renewables — we will bring down our emissions even quicker than before,” Timmermans explained. “Coal has a substantial effect on the environment, with Greenpeace describing it as “the dirtiest, most polluting way of producing energy.”

However, the European Union explained that there is no other option considering that there are increasing demands and supply chain management is being affected.