EU Countries Commit to Drop Gas Demand by 15% Next Winter to Limit Russian Gas Disruptions
EU member states agreed July 26 to voluntarily reduce their natural gas demand by 15% this winter in a bid to reduce shocks from any disruptions to the supply of Russian gas, the European Council announced. The agreement lays out the possibility of triggering a "Union alert" that would make the gas demand reduction mandatory. The agreement calls for 15% reduced demand Aug. 1 through March 31 and specifies some exemptions and chances for member states to request a derogation from the reduction target to boost the security of the gas supply.
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Member states that aren't interconnected to other member states' gas networks are exempted from the reduction. The exemption also applies to member states whose electricity grids are not synched with the European electricity system and are "heavily reliant on gas for electricity production." Derogations can be requested to help member states adapt their demand reduction obligations if there are limited interconnections with other member states, if the state has overshot its gas storage filling targets, is heavily dependent on gas as a feedstock for critical industries or if gas consumption has jumped by at least 8% in the past year compared with the average of the past five years.
The council said member states should prioritize measures that don't affect protected customers such as households and essential services for the functioning of society. Possible measures include lowering gas consumption in the electricity sector, encouraging "fuel switch in industry, national awareness raising campaigns, targeted obligations to reduce heating and cooling and market-based measures such as auctioning between companies."