Page 15 - EurOil Week 50 2020

EurOil POLICY EurOil

EU considers ruling out

oil and gas in PCI list

EUROPE THE EU may exclude fossil fuel infrastructure interconnected, with increased import options
from its list of projects of common interest (PCI), primarily in the form of LNG.
PCI inclusion was which are entitled to accelerated planning per- The current PCI list comprises five LNG
instrumental in getting mission and EU funding, according to a new import terminals, five gas storage facilities
many of the EU’s proposal by the European Commission (EC). and a number of key pipelines, including the
biggest gas projects like Continuing regulatory and financial support Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which serves as
SGC off the ground. for oil and gas infrastructure is incompatible the SGC’s European section, and the EastMed
with the goals set out in the EU’s Green Deal and pipeline to bring gas from Israel and Cyprus to
therefore must end, the EC argued in a proposal southern Europe.
on December 15. It advocated for changes in the While the door has been closed on gas infra-
Trans-European Networks for Energy (TEN- structure financing, hydrogen projects will still
E) regulation to ensure this. The EU executive be eligible for inclusion on the PCI list. Hydro-
added that European gas demand was due to gen can primarily be produced from water using
contract significantly as member states move renewable energy or from natural gas via steam
towards their emissions targets, meaning that reforming, with CO2 emissions from the process
continued support is not necessary. captured and stored. It is touted as a key way in
“The current TEN-E framework has been which heavy industries can decarbonise their
fundamental in creating a true single energy operations.
market, making it better integrated, more com- Gas industry association Gas Infrastructure
petitive and secure. But our ambitious climate Europe (GIE) responded to the EC’s proposal in
targets demand a stronger focus on sustaina- a statement, in which it stressed the crucial role
bility and new clean technologies,” EC Energy of gas infrastructure in shipping hydrogen and
Commissioner Kadri Simson explained. “This other renewable gases, with relatively little extra
is why our proposal prioritises electricity grids, investment required. Underground gas storage
offshore energy and renewable gases, while oil units can also be repurposed to store hydrogen
and natural gas infrastructure will no longer be and other green molecules, it said, and LNG
eligible for support.” regasification terminals can bring ashore liquid
PCI inclusion was crucial in getting many hydrogen.
of the EU’s biggest gas projects off the ground, “To deliver the ultimate decarbonisation
including the $55bn Southern Gas Corridor goal, a future-proof solution is needed. And the
(SGC) that can pump gas from Azerbaijan to gas infrastructure remains a pillar component
markets in southern Europe. It meant the project of such an action plan,” GIE’s secretary general
not only overcame significant regulatory hurdles Boyana Achovski said. “Today, we are already
and secured grants from the Connecting Europe teaming up with the wind and solar power
Facility (CEF), but also attracted loans from EU generation. By doing so, we will massively
financiers such as the European Investment contribute to accelerating the deployment of
Bank (EIB). renewable hydrogen in the [near] future thanks
PCI status has also been instrumental to our technical capacities and ability to inno-
in making the European gas market more vate.” ™

Week 50 17•December•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P15