The European Union’s (EU) efforts to limit its dependence on Russian energy supplies have led to steep drops in natural gas consumption, helped to diversify suppliers and accelerated the transition to clean energy, according to a review of the initiatives.
REPowerEU was launched in May 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine and cut off gas supplies to the continent. A two-year review of the plan by the European Commission (EC) found that the bloc has exceeded expectations.
EU member states reduced natural gas consumption by 20% between 2021 and 2023, well beyond the 15% target. EU gas consumption declined by 18% between August 2022 and March 2024, or by about 125 billion cubic meters (Bcm).
Imports of Russian pipeline gas and LNG dropped from a 45% share to a 15% share between 2021 and 2023, according to the EC’s review, putting the bloc on track to entirely phase out imports of Russian fossil fuels by 2027.
The EU replaced Russian gas with imports of the super-chilled fuel from other global suppliers. Norway and the United States became the largest gas suppliers, representing 34% and 20% of all EU gas imports, respectively.
As liquefied natural gas imports increased to Europe, EU members invested in a record seven new LNG terminal projects. Those that have been commissioned over the past 2 years have increased the EU’s annual LNG import capacity to 50 Bcm as of May 2024.
LNG import capacity for Europe is expected to reach 70 Bcm at the end of the year. About 75% of the LNG import capacity added in the EU since 2022 has been floating storage and regasification units.
The EU is also producing more electricity from wind and solar than from natural gas for the first time. A record of nearly 96 GW of new solar energy capacity has been installed and wind capacity has increased by 33 GW since 2022.
