Sdukou: Yes to the voluntary reduction of gas demand

The State Secretary for the Environment and Energy participated in the Energy Council held on Monday, 4 March 2024 in Brussels and approved the Council’s recommendation to continue coordinated measures to reduce its demand. In its intervention, Alexandra Sdoukou stressed that reducing gas demand is the instrument for price stability and not an end in itself, and should take account of the growth of the economy. As he said: “Although we support the Council’s recommendation, reducing demand cannot be a separate objective, while the competitiveness and reindustrialisation of Europe must, of course, be our top priorities, along with the exemption from coal.” Mrs Sdoukou also raised the issue of the large reduction and volatility of CO2 prices, which complicates efforts to discharge carbon, endangering the investments involved. At the same time, the Council of Ministers discussed the question of flexible energy resources as a key element of the energy transition. He also stressed that flexibility was not a priority of the Green Agreement to the extent it should, and that ensuring the reliability and security of electricity systems should be at the forefront of Europe’s energy policy, alongside achieving the objectives set for Renewable Energy Sources. The State Secretary confirmed that the issue of flexibility has taken a central role in energy planning at national level and this is reflected in the revised National Energy and Climate Plan (ESEC), where flexible resources are provided, such as energy storage plants and demand response systems. In this context, support frameworks have been approved on the one hand for energy storage systems aimed at installed power of 3.1 GW by 2030, on the other hand for RES systems, combined with an electrical power storage plant behind the meter. Mrs Sdoukou also mentioned the need to establish market power mechanisms and not through State aid frameworks and stressed the need for investments in systems that offer this flexibility, without any separation in technology, to be viable. Finally, during a working lunch, the Council discussed the situation of the photovoltaic sector in Europe, involving representatives of industry (Solar Power Europe and European Solar Manufacturing Council). The State Secretary in her speech called on the Council to help the sector become competitive and to ensure, with clear policies and solid measures, that the EU’s green transition would not be jeopardised by any disruption of the value chain in those parts of RES technologies produced mainly, or almost exclusively, by third countries. As Alexandra Sdoukou pointed out: “Greece supports the promotion of a sustainable and competitive European PV value chain, to ensure not only access to equipment in the coming years, but also the achievement of ambitious greenhouse gas emissions targets and hence, to shield the security of EU energy supply but, at the same time, growth and prosperity.”