Brussels, April 9 (.).- The European Union needs to invest 800 thousand million euros in energy infrastructure until 2030 to achieve its climate goals, according to the European Industry Roundtable lobby group, which cites grids as a priority for electricity and energy. Energy storage and carbon dioxide capture and storage.
“The greatest danger of the European approach is that (the European Union) has placed energy-intensive industry at a significant competitive disadvantage,” the European Roundtable said in a statement after analyzing two reports prepared by Boston Consulting Group. .
The head of the Titan Cement Group and head of the energy transition and climate change committee of the aforementioned pressure group, warned that the community bloc risks suffering from an industrial relocation.
“Europe has leading companies in energy-intensive sectors such as cement, chemicals, metals and refining, which employ millions of people (…). If Europe loses its share in these global sectors, others elsewhere will simply take it and that prosperity. I will go there.” .
According to the European Industry Roundtable, it will take 800 billion euros until 2030, and another 2.5 trillion euros until 2050, in public and private investments, for these industries to be able to compete on a global scale with regions such as the United States or China.
That platform added that between 2010 and 2018, total investment in networks in the European Union amounted to about $32 billion.
In particular, the reports highlight “Europe’s loss of competitiveness through the energy transition, which is reflected in data such as the loss of 66% of production in the EU and its recent shift from being an exporter of chemicals to an importer.” .
“The risk of further deindustrialization is evident in the displacement of foreign direct investment towards other regions,” adds this industrial program, which points out among the reasons “high energy and decarbonization costs, barriers to access to affordable renewable energy and the importance of deploying future technologies.” “
To correct this trend, they propose “huge investments in national and cross-border infrastructure for electricity, hydrogen and carbon dioxide networks” with the aim of obtaining “abundant availability of renewable energy at competitive prices throughout the EU”. “
Positively, they highlight that the EU has some of the “largest interconnected networks in the world,” but lament that it also has an “underdeveloped single energy market.”
To improve the competitiveness of companies such as Liquid air (EPA:), ArcelorMittal (BME:), Engie, Eni (BIT:), Ericsson (ST:), Iberdrola (BME:), Maersk (CSE:), Nokia (HE:), Shell (LON:), Siemens and Volvo (ST:) Group, proposes to stimulate planning for both sea and land interconnections or harmonize technical standards.
They also call for ensuring “strategic locations” for hydrogen demand centers and carbon dioxide capture and storage centers and speeding up the licensing process, among other measures.
The European Commission, which months ago began holding dialogue tables to discuss industrial challenges with industries, will submit a report tomorrow in which it will submit a report on this work to coordinate with economic sectors so that the European Union reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 55% in 2030. Compared to 1990 and reaching neutrality. climate change by mid-century.
