Presenting a draft regulation on notification to the Commission of investment projects in energy infrastructure on 16 July, Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs stressed that, given the EU's climate commitments, the bloc would need to invest massively in energy infrastructure.
"The Commission is interested in monitoring whether investment projects will become a reality in time to meet future demand while satisfying our energy and climate targets. This is a particular concern for the Commission, especially at a time when a severe financial and economic crisis is causing cuts and delays to energy investment and is increasing uncertainty related to future energy projects," said Piebalgs.
The proposal seeks to strengthen the collection and analysis of data on investment projects for oil, gas and electricity as well as related areas such as transport and storage of carbon dioxide. From next year on, it would oblige member states to report back to the Commission every two years on types of investment, planned capacities and any delays or obstacles.
The Commission will use the data to identify investment trends in Europe and provide cross-sectoral analysis. The supply side information will then be regularly contrasted with outlooks for energy demand to identify any gaps between the two.
In the interest of transparency, the data will be shared with member states and made public unless it is commercially sensitive.
The new regulation was foreseen in the Commission's November 2008 Second Strategic Review, which aims at safeguarding Europe's energy supplies by increasing domestic production of renewable energy and diversifying gas supply routes (EurActiv 14/11/08).
According to the EU executive, the existing regulation on notifying infrastructure projects in the petroleum, natural gas and electricity sectors is no longer enforced consistently, nor does it provide sufficient data to monitor developments at EU-level.
The Commission believes regular EU-level monitoring of infrastructure projects will help anticipate infrastructure gaps that threaten security of supply.
The EU has earmarked €3.98 billion for investments in energy infrastructure within its wider economic recovery plan (EurActiv 08/07/09). But the Commission estimates that around €1 trillion will have to be spent on improving Europe's electricity network and generation capacity - and €150 billion on gas networks - between now and 2030 to respond to climate and security of supply challenges.
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