Bulgaria, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia have issued a joint non-paper on the future role of gas and gas infrastructure.
Key points:
- gas provides the fastest and the most affordable intermediate path to a less carbon-intensive economy, an improvement of air quality (reducing premature deaths due to air pollution) and allows for gradual and effective contribution to EU’s climate neutrality by 2050.
- gas turns out to be a substantial back-up and balancing source for development of renewable energy and electricity system
- the discontinuation of support for further development of gas infrastructure contributing and enhancing the energy transition will make it very difficult for many Member States to mobilise enough investment to cover massive needs for key energy infrastructure projects
- Gas infrastructure should be therefore considered as one of enablers of sustainable and swift transition towards cleaner heat and electricity generation, transport, industrial processes and residential heating and cooling
- it is of crucial importance to maintain EU support and financial assistance for the development of gas infrastructure through enabling framework, structural funds and investment loans.