Reducing energy prices in the European Union is a top priority, and measures to achieve this will be revealed next month, according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“Energy prices in Europe are still structurally higher than in the United States and China, and they vary significantly within the European Union,” Ms von der Leyen said on Wednesday. “We must bring them down while we complete the phase-out of Russian fossil fuels.”

She said that diversifying energy suppliers and investing in “next-generation clean energy technologies” were key to lowering prices in the bloc, listing fusion, enhanced geothermal, and solid-state batteries as examples.

Geothermal energy uses heat from deeper layers of bedrock to generate energy. In fusion, unlike in the reactors of conventional nuclear power plants, atomic nuclei are fused at extreme temperatures instead of being split.

The EU also needed to attract more private capital to modernise electricity grids and storage infrastructure and better connect low-carbon energy systems.

Ms Von der Leyen said she planned to present a plan for affordable energy in February.

The commission sees the comparatively high energy prices in the EU as one of the main obstacles to reviving a weakening economy and the bloc’s competitiveness.

(dpa/NAN)