EurActiv: EU risks wasting billions on gas infrastructure 'white elephants'

The European Union risks wasting billions of euros on unnecessary gas infrastructure because of pressure to wean itself off Russian energy after the Ukraine crisis, new research has found.

Gas pipelines paid for by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), a funding mechanism to drive cross-border infrastructure, will be left “stranded” because there will not be enough demand for the gas they transport, according to environmental think tank E3G.

EU predictions to assess potential pipelines assume a 72% higher gas demand than their projections where the EU’s 2030 energy efficiency goals are met, the E3G study, to be published later this week, found.

Those goals, a 40% CO2 cut, a 27% share of renewables in Europe’s energy mix, and a 30% improvement in energy wastage by 2030, will be discussed at October’s meeting of EU leaders in Brussels.
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