It also proposes cutting red tape in the planning process for solar and wind projects. On the same day, leaders from Germany, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands met in Denmark to pledge to increase offshore wind capacity tenfold, to 150 gigawatts, by 2050.

The EU has raised its 2030 target for reducing energy consumption to 13% from 9% previously, with measures to encourage more efficient heating systems, better building insulation and increased use of heat pumps. domestic heat.

In the meantime, however, one of the main aims of the plan is to “diversify supply”, with Australia being named as the gas source country.

About 40% of EU gas imports come from Russia, although the proportion is nearly 100% in some of Russia’s immediate neighbours. About 30% of the bloc’s oil imports come from Russia, and up to half of its coal.

But Australian environmental analysts have warned that the EU’s focus on renewables will eventually reduce pressure on global gas prices.

“While the EU will rely on increased LNG imports in the near term, this will rapidly decline below pre-war levels as it ramps up renewable energy generation,” Bruce said. Robertson, energy finance analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics. & Financial analysis.

“Investors need to understand that the Ukraine crisis has moved the EU towards a clean energy future. Any long-term investment in gas and LNG now just won’t have the return on investment that they think it will.

The EU plan could mean that by 2030 the bloc will spend 80 billion euros less on gas imports, 12 billion euros less on oil imports and 1.7 billion euros less for coal imports.

Green hydrogen objectives

A longer-term opportunity for Australia could be REPowerEU’s focus on green hydrogen, produced from renewable energy. The plan foresees that by 2030 the EU will produce 10 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year and import 10 million tonnes.

Federal and state governments, along with Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Future Industries, have made Australia a key supplier.

Industry body Hydrogen Europe said building enough electrolyser capacity to meet these targets would be “a huge challenge” and would require Brussels to step up work on establishing regulations and unlocking funding that would “define a clear market“.

The REPowerEU plan provides for the development of “hydrogen import corridors”, as well as a major overhaul of the continent’s energy network.

The EU has tried to get all 27 countries to agree to a total ban on Russian oil imports, but Hungary – which is particularly dependent on Russian supplies – has vetoed it as Prime Minister Viktor Orban asks for more time and money to comply.