Recital (11)

This Regulation is fully compatible with the Union’s strategy to reduce its reliance on fossil fuel imports by enhancing decarbonisation and rapidly expanding domestically produced clean energy. As set out in the REPowerEU Roadmap, the implementation of the REPowerEU Plan has already resulted in a substantial reduction of more than 60 billion cubic metres annually in gas imports between 2022 and 2024, allowing the Union to reduce its dependence on supplies from the Russian Federation. A further reduction of dependence could be achieved by measures to reduce gas demand, to increase energy efficiency, or to accelerate the green transition by an accelerated deployment of wind and solar generation capacity, which would significantly increase the share of renewables in the energy mix, as well as by actively supporting diversification of energy supplies and the increase of the bargaining power of the Union via joint gas purchasing. Moreover, the full implementation of the energy transition, the recent Action Plan for Affordable Energy and other measures, in particular investments in the production of low-carbon alternatives for energy intensive products, such as fertilisers, are expected to replace up to 100 billion cubic metres of natural gas by 2030. These combined efforts will strengthen the Union’s resilience, competitiveness, and open strategic autonomy, support European industries, SMEs and citizens and facilitate the phase-out of gas imports from the Russian Federation.