A collection of 18 posts
Polish refiner PKN Orlen is considering buying a majority stake in the PCK Schwedt refinery in north-east Germany, which until Friday 16 September was controlled by a subsidiary of Russia’s Rosneft, Reuters learned from sources in Poland and Germany. The deal could offer a solution to the upcoming EU’
French President Emmanuel Macron underlined that energy policy is now a major priority for Europe when he met the leaders of the Visegrad Four countries – Poland, Czechia, Hungary and Slovakia – in Budapest this week. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban agreed that securing Europe’s energy independence is one of the
Germany will not allow the commencement of the operation of the Nord Stream 2 (NSII) gas pipeline if Russia steps up aggression towards Ukraine, Germany’s new Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Sunday. The Greens party politician explained that Berlin’s stance on the pipeline, which Russian state-owned energy
With Russian troops amassing at Ukraine’s eastern border, negative sentiments toward the Nord Stream 2 (NS2), both within Germany and among its allies in Central and Eastern Europe, are emerging, Newsweek writes. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are urging the incoming German coalition to reconsider the gas pipeline, which the
The governments of nine EU member states, among them Germany, have signed a joint statement that they cannot back any measure – including plans for an EU electricity reform – which conflicts with the gas and energy markets. The letter came as a reaction to the French-Spanish proposal presented at last week’
Russian state-owned Gazprom and Hungarian energy group MVM signed a ten-year gas-supply agreement at the end of August. Under the deal, effective 1 October, Gazprom transits 4.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas to Hungary annually via two routes: 3.5bn through a new pipeline via Serbia and 1bn
For the citizens of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, the signs are ominous. As the Baltic countries look ahead to rising Covid-19 rates in plummeting temperatures, they are meanwhile facing soaring energy bills. The only hope for manageable energy bills is mild weather in the months ahead, representatives of electricity firms
The contentious Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline will commence gas transits from Russia to Europe next month, according to the Russian state-owned Gazprom. This massive infrastructure development will not only impact European energy supplies, but could also have geopolitical effects. After years of debate and delay, the final sections
The European Union’s Court of Justice is forcing Poland to pay a huge daily fine – EUR 500,000 – for continuing to operate a lignite mine which had been ordered to cease extraction in May of this year. Calling the fine exorbitant, Poland’s government says it has no plans
The Hungarian government is opposed to the introduction of a single EU carbon price and extension of the EU’s Emissions Trading System to households, namely buildings and the transport sector, according to state secretary for the Development of Circular Economy, Energy and Climate Policy, Attila Steiner, who noted that
Russia is ready to supply Europe with what it considers the energy of the future: hydrogen. According to media reports, Russia immediately saw an opportunity to replace the oil and natural gas sales it makes to the EU, which will decline in the forthcoming decades, with deliveries of hydrogen. The
Meeting the EU’s 2030 climate targets poses a huge challenge for Central European countries, especially for coal-dependent Poland. But it is also helping the country with a population of 40 million to modernize. Thwarted by the highest electricity prices in Europe, and pressured by EU environmental regulations, Poland has
The future of natural gas and how it is funded by the EU are deepening the divide between eastern and western Europe. Countries in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) like the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania continue to see natural gas as a key energy source and would
The EU has big plans to scale up battery production in Europe to make the major switch from fossil fuels to electromobility a reality by the end of the decade. But will the planned protectionist measures help achieve its goal? Following a unanimous decision last December by EU governments to
According to a new draft law, Hungary’s Atomic Energy Authority – also responsible for the Paks 2 nuclear power plant investment – will no longer be under direct government control starting in 2022. Government politicians argued that the European Commission had long demanded the “independence” of the Authority, but critics are