據油價網7月6日報道，彭博社報道，歐盟可以利用其新成立的天然氣買家組織卡特爾購買大量的氫氣和其他關鍵材料。歐盟設定了一個目標，即整合足夠的需求，填滿其在歐盟境內相當于約135億立方米天然氣儲存設施；目前歐盟其天然氣儲備已經超出預期，接近80%的儲備已滿。

歐盟委員會副主席告訴彭博社，“我們必須在關鍵原材料上進行更多投資，以獲取我們所需的戰略供應，我們需要多樣化供應商”。

受到近年來最嚴重的能源危機之一的沖擊，歐盟于2022年成立了一個天然氣買家組織卡特爾，并開始發布供應招標。據稱，歐盟內約有50家天然氣供應商和大型工業氣體消費者立即表示有興趣參與該聯合購買行動。整個努力的一個關鍵目標是通過大規模購買來降低天然氣價格。

盡管天然氣價格比一年前低得多，但歐盟仍需要購買大量天然氣來重新填充儲備，這可能會推高價格。他表示，歐盟及其四個鄰國未來三年將需要240億立方米的天然氣來滿足需求。此外，與全球兩大經濟體相比，歐洲一直在為天然氣支付相當高的溢價，如果該地區要在全球舞臺上保持競爭力，這種情況需要改變。“越來越重要的是，我們必須處理價格問題。與上述兩位相比，我們無法以如此巨大的價格差來支持我們的經濟?！敝x夫喬維奇告訴彭博社。

三年前，歐盟制定了其新的氫氣戰略，作為實現其所有行業在2050年實現碳中和的目標的一部分。對于氫氣行業來說，這是一個巨大的勝利，歐盟計劃在2030年之前在其境內建設至少40吉瓦的電解裝置，相當于當前全球容量250兆瓦的160倍。歐盟還計劃支持鄰近國家發展另外40吉瓦的綠色氫氣，這些國家可以向該地區出口。

天然氣買家聯盟的成功為歐盟在購買氫氣和其他能源轉型所需材料方面提供了一個藍圖。

胡耀東 譯自 油價網

原文如下：

EU Could Use Newly Launched Gas Cartel To Purchase Hydrogen

The European Union could use its newly launched gas cartel to purchase vast quantities of hydrogen and other critical materials, Bloomberg has reported. The bloc had set a goal of aggregating enough demand to fill 15% of its gas storage sites across the bloc, equivalent to around 13.5 billion cubic meters, and has managed to exceed expectations with its gas stores nearly 80% full.

“We have to invest much more in critical raw materials to have the strategic supplies we need. We need to diversify the suppliers,” Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic has told Bloomberg.

Rocked by one of the worst energy crises in living memory, the European Union launched a gas buyers’ cartel in 2022 and started issuing tenders for supplies. According to Sefcovic, some 50 gas suppliers and large industrial gas consumers in the EU immediately expressed interest in being part of the bloc’s joint gas buying effort. A key objective of the whole endeavor is to keep gas prices low by buying in larger volumes.

Although natural gas prices are a lot lower than they were a year ago, the EU still needs to buy vast quantities of gas to refill its storage, with such a move likely to drive prices higher. Sefcovic said that the EU plus four neighboring countries will require 24 billion cubic meters of natural gas over the next three years to meet their needs. Further, Europe has been paying a considerable premium for its gas compared to the global top two economics , and this needs to change if the region is to remain competitive on the global stage, “What is increasingly important is that we have to deal with prices. We can’t power our economy at such a huge price differential compared with the above-mentioned economics ,” Sefcovic told Bloomberg.

Three years ago, the European Union set out its new hydrogen strategy as part of its goal to achieve carbon neutrality for all its industries by 2050. In a big win for the hydrogen sector, the EU has outlined an extremely ambitious target to build out at least 40 gigawatts of electrolyzers within its borders by 2030, or 160x the current global capacity of 250MW. The EU also plans to support the development of another 40 gigawatts of green hydrogen in nearby countries that can export to the region by the same date.

The success of the gas club provides a blueprint for the EU to use to purchase hydrogen and other materials it needs for the energy transition.