Brussels will allow public aid for gas as a source of transition in decarbonisation

The European Commission presented on Wednesday the new framework of public aid from member states to accelerate the green transition and which includes a role for natural gas as a temporary and transitional solution to support industrial decarbonisation if there are no alternatives. The new state aid framework will be in place until 2030 and relaxes the conditions that allow governments to deploy aid in the form of grants, soft loans, tax incentives or guarantees to certain projects that contribute to cutting the bloc’s emissions and reducing the use of fossil fuels. Thus, Brussels opens the door for countries to support the decarbonisation of industrial plant processes with up to 200 million euros per beneficiary through investments in electrification or carbon capture and storage, or to replace the use of polluting fuels with other sources such as hydrogen or biomass. Within this chapter, it is expected that countries will be able to incentivise investments in natural gas projects on an “exceptional” basis and provided that there is “no technologically mature alternative” and that the beneficiary companies present a “credible and detailed” plan to guarantee the withdrawal of gas by 2040. The vice-president of the EU Executive for Clean Transition, Teresa Ribera, also Commissioner for Competition, explained at a press conference that natural gas has to be the “last resort” and “the only way to advance” in decarbonisation “at least for a while”.

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