EU unveils new electrification strategy to slash fossil fuel reliance

The European Union is set to unveil a major Electrification Action Plan on July 17, 2026.

As reported by Reuters, plan aims to designed to shift a larger share of its economy toward electricity and reduce reliance on imported oil and gas.

According to the initial draft of European Commission proposal, EU is eyeing a target for electricity to account for 46% of energy consumption across the bloc by 2040, doubling the rate today,

Currently, electricity accounts for less than a quarter of the European Union's final energy consumption.

This share has remained stagnant at 23% for the past decade, highlighting a major hurdle in the transition toward a fully electrified economy.

While the rest of the economy runs mostly on fossil fuels.

Raising that share to 46% would require a massive increase ‌in electric vehicles, more widespread replacement of gas boilers with heat pumps in homes, and electrifying industrial processes — as well as extensive upgrades of Europe's ageing power grids which will require hundreds of billions of euros in investments.

This initiative is a strategic response to the energy security crisis followed by recent geopolitical conflicts which has increased the EU's fossil fuel import costs.

The draft plan which is due to publish on Friday, is part of the European Union's response to the fallout of the US-Iran conflict, which sent oil and gas prices soaring and spurred Brussels to prepare new measures to cut Europe's reliance on imported oil and gas.

The EU imports more than 80% of the gas it consumes, and more than 90% of its oil.

The draft proposal said the Commission would set out the plan on July 17, and propose legislation in the fourth quarter to fix the target into law.