Agreement reached: EU wants to reduce electricity consumption by 11.7%

On Friday, the negotiators of the EU Council and the European Parliament reached a temporary political agreement on the reduction of final energy consumption by 11.7 percent in 2030.

Final energy consumption is energy consumed by end consumers, while primary energy consumption includes energy used for energy production.

The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU and negotiators of the European Parliament reached an agreement on changes to the energy efficiency directive after all-night negotiations. That agreement still needs to be confirmed by the Council and the Parliament in order for it to become law.

“Energy efficiency is key to the full decarbonisation of the EU economy and independence from Russian fossil fuels,” said Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson.

In order to achieve the goals outlined in this agreement, the member states will have to invest huge resources in the renovation and thermal insulation of millions of buildings.

According to the agreement, the member countries will contribute to the achievement of the set goal at the EU level, through their national and energy plans, in which they will outline their own savings goals, which will not be binding, but the Commission will be able to correct them if they do not contribute to the mandatory goal of 11 .7 percent at the level of the Union.

The formula for calculating the national contributions to the goal will be indicative, with the possibility of deviating from it by 2.5 percent, and the Commission will assess whether these national contributions contribute to the fulfillment of the savings goal of 11.7 percent.

The calculation formula will be based, among other things, on energy consumption, GDP per capita, development of renewable energy sources and opportunities for energy savings.

Member states will need to ensure annual savings in final energy consumption of 1.49 percent on average per year from the current 0.8 percent in the period from 2024 to 2030, and this percentage should gradually increase, and the savings would reach 31 December 2030. should have reached 1.9 percent.

EU countries will have to renovate at least three percent of the total area of publicly owned buildings every year.