The European Union (EU) and China strengthen ties in energy matters. The third phase of the Energy Cooperation Platform begins
Specifically, the European Commission (EC) has put out to tender the contract to select a service provider that supports the EU in achieving results in the process of strengthening the dialogue with the Asian giant. The contract, consulted by La Información, has a value of five million euros and the candidacies can be sent until February 24. The platform is funded by the European Union Partnership Instrument, designed to advance the Union’s strategic interests and address global challenges, and is jointly run by the Commission’s Energy Directorate General and the Chinese National Administration.
“The EU-China Energy Cooperation Platform will continue to support the EU-China dialogue in the energy sector regarding the clean energy transition, energy markets and business cooperation. A new tender is needed to select a select prover qualified services that support the EU in obtaining the results and products required in the strengthening of dialogues and exchanges with the main desired parties, intensely in the results and partnerships achieved through the two previous phases, ”says the Commission in your electronic contracting platform.
Support the energy transition
The European Union and China share common interests and goals for the energy transition and are jointly responsible for one third of the world’s final energy consumption. Brussels’ cooperation with Beijing is therefore focused on supporting the clean energy transition on both sides, a prerequisite for successfully implementing the Paris Agreement and providing its citizens with clean, sustainable and affordable energy.
China is serious about renewable energy and will boast the world’s largest offshore wind farm. It will have a capacity of 43.3 gigawatts (GW) and will be located in Chaozhou, near the Taiwan Strait and in the province of Canton. It will measure ten kilometers long and will have thousands of wind turbines. But if that wasn’t enough, the country is also finalizing the construction of the world’s largest photovoltaic plant, covering almost 1.5 million square meters, in the Kubuqi desert. In addition, the giant dominates the manufacturing capacities of solar panels, wind generators, batteries for electric vehicles, electrolyzers and heat pumps.
The platform thus brings together a wide range of energy stakeholders: public authorities, associations, industry and companies, as well as research institutes and think tanks. Since 1994, officials from the European Union and China have met in an annual dialogue to cooperate on energy issues. The bidding for the contract for the third phase of the platform comes at a time when Russia, with Gazprom as the executing arm, has become one of China’s leading oil and gas suppliers.
The energy relationship between the two countries has intensified since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 last year. However, in 2014 they already signed a mega-contract for three decades valued at 400,000 million dollars (about 350,000 million euros) through which the Russian giant supplied 38,000 million cubic meters of gas to the eastern country per year. In this way, a market was opened to Russia at a time when the demand for gas fell in Europe and when Brussels began to sanction it for the annexation of Crimea. On its side, Beijing achieved greater independence from coal consumption and bought Russian gas at a more advantageous price given the impossibility of the Kremlin to place it in other markets.
In addition, Russia and China are expected to be the two major players in the oil market in 2023 for zero covid and commercial aviation. For its part, the longer-term effect of international sanctions on Russian oil amid increased global demand remains to be seen.
Cross-border energy communities
The Commission has also put out a tender for a contract for the creation of a manual on cross-border energy communities. “It will serve as a tool for citizens, organizations and local agents who wish to exploit the benefits of cross-border cooperation in the generation, supply, storage, aggregation, distribution and consumption of (renewable) energy by creating energy communities throughout the European territory”, they explain from Brussels.
The document also added “recommendations to overcome legal, administrative, governance and management obstacles that may arise in view of the specific cross-border context and disseminate good practices.” In this case, the value of the contract is 240,000 euros.
