While the EU is mired in conflicts between east, south and west over over finance, climate policy and refugees, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is wooing 16 Central and Eastern European leaders at a China-CEE summit in Suzhou. It is all part of the Chinese dream of creating a Jeremy Rifkin-esque infrastructurally and digitally integrated economic space spanning the vast Eurasian continent, writes journalist Pepe Escobar. Some years from now German … [Read more...]
The case against Nord Stream 2
By opening up an additional route for cheap Russian gas to Germany, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project may look like a good deal for Europe. However, its advantages are primarily short term, writes Agata Loskot-Strachota of the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) in Poland. In the longer term the pipeline increases the possibilities for Russia’s excessive influence on the European gas market, undermines the policy goals of the Energy Union, and … [Read more...]
EU’s first State of the Energy Union report: how it will deliver on climate and energy goals for 2030
The EU’s first-ever “State of the Energy Union” report is determinedly optimistic on progress, but offers little new information and appears to take just a small step towards resolving the biggest challenge of all: uniting national interests around EU priorities. Published by the European Commission on 18 November, the report is accompanied by a whole suite of studies in areas from energy security to climate action. The package sets out … [Read more...]
Security alert: Europe needs more grids, more power plants – say grid operators and generators
Under any decarbonisation scenario, whether dominated by fossil fuels or renewables, centralised or decentralised, €10 to €20 billion  in annual investments in grid infrastructure will be needed in Europe in the decades out to 2050, concludes a multi-stakeholder consortium led by European Transmission  System Operators in a landmark report. In another report, the European technical association for electricity and heat generation VGB PowerTech, … [Read more...]
Interview Marko Delimar, IEEE: “Technologists need to demystify energy”
“Right now renewable energy is still in the single digits in Europe. That’s a disaster”, says Marko Delimar, Professor at the University of Zagreb and Chair of the European Public Policy Group of the engineers association IEEE, the largest professional association in the world. According to Delimar, the energy transition is still at a very early stage. Technologists, he says, in an interview with Energy Post, have an important task: “We need to … [Read more...]
Bottlenecks for energy storage in Europe – and how to address them
Energy storage is important for achieving Energy Union goals such as the expansion of renewable energy, decarbonisation, energy security, energy market integration and increased competitiveness. But its deployment is hindered by existing regulations that do not provide a level playing field, write Vincent Swinkels, Bart van der Ree and Sergio Ugarte of SQ Consult. They note that the European electricity system was not designed with energy storage … [Read more...]
Klaus Schäfer, future CEO of E.ON spin-off Uniper: “EU should set a target for gas”
The EU should define how much gas it wants by when, and recognise that Nord Stream 2 can provide additional security of supply, argues Klaus Schäfer, the incoming CEO of E.ON spin-off Uniper in this exclusive interview with Energy Post. Schäfer, who is currently Board member of the E.ON Group, says Europe is further away than ever from a single market for electricity and calls on policymakers to recognise that security of supply has a cost. He … [Read more...]
The new Polish government’s energy policy: expect more State, less market
The new Polish government will not just resist ambitious EU climate targets, it will also increase the role of the State in the energy sector, write researchers Kacper Szulecki (University of Oslo) and Andrzej Ancygier (Climate Analytics) . The conservative Law and Justice Party that has been swept into power intends to create a Ministry of Energy, which will take control of the major Polish energy companies, note the authors. The likely new … [Read more...]
A quiet gas revolution in Central and Eastern Europe
Turkish Stream, Nord Stream, South Stream, Nabucco - the discussion about the European gas market centres on big gas pipeline projects which are supposed to make Europe either more or less dependent on Russia. However, unnoticed by most observers, Central and Eastern European countries have been carrying out numerous smaller projects that together are radically transforming the European gas market, write Colin Harrison and Zuzana Princova of … [Read more...]
Power-to-gas: how carmakers can go green (without cheating)
European carmakers are required to reduce their CO2-emissions, but the Volkswagen affair has shown they find it increasingly difficult to do so. There is a way out, however, writes energy consultant Mike Parr: they could follow the example of Audi and invest in power-to-gas systems. This would kill two birds with one stone, argues Parr: it would help decarbonise the transport sector and could enormously help the integration of variable renewables … [Read more...]
German accord: it will take a lot more to beat lignite
The accord between the German government and energy companies RWE, Vattenfall and Mibrag to put 2.7 GW of lignite-fired power capacity into reserve, will not be enough to wean Germany off lignite, writes Hamburg-based US energy expert Jeffrey Michel. The lignite sector is too well entrenched and lignite mining profitable enough to subsidize the loss-making power production. Only when renewables and gas-fired power generation have fully superseded … [Read more...]
Why Brussels should not interfere with Nord Stream 2
In its efforts to increase European energy security and create a common European energy market – and ultimately an Energy Union worth its label – the European Commission preeminently emphasizes the diversification of supply routes. For this reason it has criticised the Nord Stream 2 project of Gazprom and a number of European companies. But while diversification certainly remains one of the basic principles of energy security, it is only one of … [Read more...]
viEUws Brussels Briefing on Energy: all you need to know for October/November
Hughes Belin gives details on what to expect in the first State of the Energy Union report due from European Commission Vice-President, Maroš Ĺ efÄŤoviÄŤ, on 18 November. In the meantime, he reports on the official signing off of a new gas interconnector between Lithuania and Poland, and looks ahead to an EU LNG strategy due next year. A public consultation on redesigning the European electricity market has closed and legislation on the back of … [Read more...]
What Volkswagen and the EU’s climate models have in common
The European Commission’s climate and energy modelling, based on intransparent models from the National Technical University of Athens, is based on ludicrous assumptions, writes Brook Riley of the Friends of the Earth Europe. The consequences for the climate are deadly: energy efficiency targets would be much higher if proper models were used. Riley calls for a reform of current practices. On Wednesday 21 October there will be a hearing at the … [Read more...]
Failure of Energy Community Treaty: if EU can’t make its neighbours clean up, can it be climate leader?
The Ministerial Council of the Energy Community – a Treaty between the EU, the Western Balkans, Moldova and Ukraine – is expected to decide on far-reaching reforms this week. According to Dragana Mileusnic of Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, the Energy Community Treaty has failed to bring progressive climate policies to Southeast Europe. Countries that have signed the Treaty have made practically no effort to live up to its obligations and … [Read more...]
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