Letter to the Editor – Gas and Renewable Energies, Natural Partners

Re: Letter to the Editor in response to article “Fossil fuel firms accused of renewable lobby takeover to push gas”, published on The Guardian website on January 22nd, 2015

Brussels, 26 January 2015,

Dear Sir,

As a partnership representing the entire European gas value chain, GasNaturally is regularly speaking to stakeholders, in the energy sector and beyond, to identify the best ways to meet Europe’s energy and climate objectives. In this context, the gas industry is convinced that gas and renewable energies are natural partners for many uses such as power generation, heating and transport.

As mentioned in recent infographics or videos publicly available on our website, we believe that “[g]as-fired power generation is well suited to provide highly flexible generation to complement variable renewable energy sources, as it is capable of rapid response to changes in demand. If the necessary market conditions and policies are in place, the increased use of gas for power generation will help the EU achieve considerable emissions reductions by 2030. In such a scenario, gas and renewables will grow together, displacing coal from the fuel mix for power generation.” CO2 emissions from natural gas-fired power plants are about half those of coal-fired plants (even one third compared with lignite), and the range of flexibility in terms of start times, ramp-up rates and stable load, makes it the ideal partner for variable renewables. Furthermore, new technologies in the heating sector allow homes to be heated using both gas and renewable energies.

There is no arrangement in place between the gas and renewable energy industries at present. We do, however, think that to guarantee security of energy supply whilst reducing emissions cost-effectively, the future energy system will need to rely on a varied energy mix in which gas and renewables will play a central role.

Yours sincerely,

François-Régis Mouton

Chairman of GasNaturally