The European Commission, the executive arm of the 27-nation European Union, has issued a document containing the conditions for energy projects involving natural gas, LNG-for-power and nuclear power to be labelled as “green” and part of the energy transition.
The proposed text, debated for months and still provisional, was sent to the member states on December 31, shortly before midnight and the start of 2022.
The Commission paper sets the criteria for classifying as “sustainable” investments those made in natural gas, gas fired-power plants and nuclear facilities generating power.
The EU Brussels-based executive’s overall aim is to encourage the raising of “green” finance for these types of projects to ensure energy security, while also reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.
The Commission’s official energy transition document was demanded by France, which wishes to relaunch its nuclear industry, regarded by a majority of French people as a stable and carbon-free source of electricity.
The French were backed by central European countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic, which must replace their coal-fired power stations with cleaner gas-fired plants.
Cost reductions
“Such a classification allows a reduction in financing costs, which is crucial for the projects concerned and the states wishing to support them,” said an EU official.
Analysts note that environmental activists oppose the recognition of gas-fired power stations and nuclear power by the EU for the energy transition because of carbon-dioxide emissions from gas facilities, even as they are much less than from those using coal.
Germany in particular and its new Left-Green government opposes nuclear plants because of the production of radioactive waste, which has to be stored.
EU officials said that a small group of countries, led by Germany, fought and failed to exclude the “green” labelling of nuclear power from the Commission text.
The pro-natural gas and pro-nuclear nations have argued that while renewable energy such as wind and solar are laudable and necessary, they suffer intermittent production problems, are hugely subsidized by up to 25 percent and don’t provide full energy security.
The Commission proposal sets conditions for the inclusion of nuclear and gas, in particular a time limit.
The EU text shows that for the construction of new nuclear power plants the projects must have obtained a building permit before 2045.
“Concerning the works allowing to extend the life of the existing plants, they must have been authorized before 2040,” the document added.
“Guarantees in terms of waste treatment and dismantling of nuclear installations at the end of their life are also required,” the paper stated.
