Over the past year, the United States has significantly increased LNG shipments to the European Union, which has contributed to eliminating dependence on Russia.
The European Union and the United States renewed their commitment to ensuring energy security as they accelerate the green transition.
The European-American Energy Council held a meeting co-chaired by foreign and energy policy leaders from both parties in Brussels. The Council mainly discussed the prospects for next winter, including the situation in Ukraine and Moldova.
Participants discussed how to accelerate the decarbonization process through clean energy and energy saving technologies, while ensuring that the transition to clean energy is socially just.
This meeting comes a year after the establishment of a joint working group on energy security, which aims to reduce the European Union’s dependence on Russian energy.
“Over the past year, the United States and Europe have transformed their energy security cooperation to an even greater level. In 2022, the United States will export 56 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas to Europe. This represents 40% of Europe’s total imports, an increase of 140 percent. % of last year’s exports to Europe compared to our exports of liquefied natural gas,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken summarized.
Between August 2022 and January 2023, the EU reduced its overall demand for natural gas by 19%, including by reducing electricity consumption, improving energy efficiency in the residential sector, and developing new digital solutions to help consumers save money.
“For example, we have seen a significant increase in the deployment of solar panels across Europe. The deployment of heat pumps has accelerated significantly, allowing families to essentially eliminate gas boilers at home. We are seeing truly unprecedented steps to reduce the need for energy in Europe. Simone Tagliapietra, a fellow at the Bruegel Institute in Brussels, explained that gas is relied upon by individual industries and families as well.
The European Union and the United States also cooperated to support Ukraine’s energy needs. Together with their G7 partners, they delivered more than 4,000 power generators, 1,000 transformers and more than 5 million pieces of equipment, such as circuit breakers and cables, to repair and replace the damaged Ukrainian electricity grid.
