The recently announced joint venture between TotalEnergies and EPH risks deepening Europe’s dependence on imported fossil gas, Reclaim Finance and Beyond Fossil Fuels have said.
The organisations added that the joint venture, known as TTEP, would also slow Europe’s transition towards renewable energy, and lead to increased energy bills for consumers.
Joint venture
The TTEP joint venture will operate a number of gas-fired power plans with a combined capacity of 12.5GW – equivalent to that of Belgium, Denmark, Portugal and Sweden combined.
According to the groups, TotalEnergies plans to utilise around two million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at these facilities, with the cost of importing this volume of LNG estimated at between €6.7 billion and €7.6 billion.
This in turn would deepen Europe’s reliance on the United States and Russia, the two major sources of global LNG.
As the groups note, TotalEnergies and EPH secured more than €4.1 billion in subsidies to support the joint venture between 2015 and 2024.
‘At a time when taxpayers’ bills keep rising, the joint venture will co-opt subsidies that should be going towards supporting wind, solar, power grids, and energy storage,’ they said.
Energy dependence
“Everyone loses in this deal – except the oil and gas companies already cashing in big,” commented Beyond Fossil Fuels campaigner, Brigitte Alarcon. “In countries like Italy and the UK, consumers’ bills will increase, and Europe’s energy dependence will get worse.
“Far from putting Europe on the path of energy security, TotalEnergies and EPH will be engineering further dependency on fossil gas in general and LNG in particular under the bogus pretence of adding ‘flexgen’ capacity. This will cement Europe’s energy dependence on the whims of leaders like Putin and Trump in the process, in addition to the dire consequences on the continent’s economy.”
Reclaim Finance campaigner Rémi Hermant added that the partnership has been designed to prolong Europe’s dependence on fossil gas, “fuelling the climate crisis and destabilising the economy. As governments increasingly look towards a more secure energy future that does not rely on gas imports, the warning lights should be flashing for the banks.
“They would be wise to exclude any financial support for TTEP, and for companies developing new gas-fired power plants.” Read more here.
