The French energy regulator has recently said that a long-awaited gas interconnector between Spain and France, which the European Commission says would help reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian gas, is not needed and too costly in the current market environment. Juan Vila, President of the Spanish company Gasindustrial, disputes the CRE’s assumptions and calls its viewpoint short-sighted. “The people and industries in Spain and Portugal need to … [Read more...]
American way of financing energy efficiency projects could lead to breakthrough in Europe
A retrofit project of the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK is the first in Europe to sign up to a new energy efficiency accreditation scheme, imported from the United States. This Investor Ready Energy Efficiency (IREE) certification gives investors and financial institutions guarantees that a project is environmentally and financially sound. It could pave the way for a huge expansion of energy efficiency projects across Europe: “the IREE … [Read more...]
Offshore wind: a revolution is on the horizon
The Netherlands has shown how to drive the cost of offshore wind down to previously unimagined levels: by "taking the risk out of projects", they managed to achieve a historically low price. This paves the way to turning the European North Seas into a giant power generating region, writes freelance journalist Eric Marx for World Energy Focus. The European offshore wind model could be an example to the rest of the world. … [Read more...]
As Hinkley Point C put on ice: the UK needs to get over energy megaprojects
The UK needs to get over the idea that megaprojects are the solution to everything, writes David Elmes, Head of Warwick Business School Global Energy Research Network. As the traditional investors in British oil, gas and electricity look smaller and less able to take on large projects, the UK needs an industrial energy strategy centred on a mix of smaller and larger projects. Courtesy of The Conversation. … [Read more...]
The EU’s climate plan is not enough – and everyone knows it
On Wednesday the European Commission will release its plans to share out the EU's 40% by 2030 greenhouse gas target among the 28 member states. The Commission will claim its proposal is ambitious, but everyone in Brussels knows this is not true, writes Brook Riley of Friends of the Earth Europe. European policymakers need to come clean and admit the EU is not doing enough. What would help is that they stop presenting climate policy to the public … [Read more...]
Germany sets a new solar storage record
With the most photovoltaic capacity of any country in Europe, Germany has begun to store its excess solar power to enhance local usage. Last year, 41% of all new solar installations were equipped with backup batteries, a world record. Although home storage may only have a limited role to play in Germany due to a highly reliable grid, globally the German initiative could provide great benefits, for example in counterbalancing the predicted … [Read more...]
Europe increasingly dependent on oil imports, above all from Russia
European dependence on oil imports has grown from 76% in 2000 to over 88% in 2014. The EU spends some €215 bn on oil imports, over 5 times as much as gas imports (€40 bn). Russia is the biggest supplier: dependence on Russia has grown from 22% in 2001 to 30% in 2015.  These are some of the main conclusions of a study from Cambridge Econometrics made for the Brussels-based NGO Transport & Environment (T&E). … [Read more...]
Nord Stream 2: a bad deal for Germany and Eastern Europe
Nord Stream 2 is a bad deal both for Germany and its Eastern European partners, writes Georg Zachmann, Senior Fellow at Brussels-based think tank Bruegel. According to Zachmann, the proposed pipeline from Russia to Germany would “work against efforts to diversify gas supplies”. It may also lead to Eastern European countries having to pay higher prices for gas than Germany and would give Russia a tool to discriminate between countries.  Moreover, … [Read more...]
New study: Nord Stream 2 will benefit security of gas supply in Europe
Nord Stream 2 is likely to benefit rather than hurt energy security in Central and Eastern Europe and in the UK and Germany. The gas pipeline, which Gazprom and five major Western European energy companies want to build from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea, can only be credibly stopped by the EU if the European Commission decides to transform itself from a “powerful competition watchdog” to a “political actor. Those are some of the main … [Read more...]
Exclusive Francesco Venturini, CEO Enel Green Power: “Europe stuck in confused energy vision”
Europe is last in line for investment these days because it has no long-term energy strategy, says the head of Enel Green Power, Francesco Venturini, in an exclusive interview with Energy Post Weekly from which we bring you this extract (the full interview can be found here). Europe, Venturini says, is “stuck” in a “confused” energy vision “that’s 20 years old” and doesn’t know where it wants to get to. Enel Green Power, one of the largest green … [Read more...]
EUGAL: the unknown German branch of Nord Stream 2 will make Germany the key gas hub in Europe
Despite causing great controversy in the EU, plans to build the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline are steadily being implemented, write Agata Loskot-Strachota and Konrad Poplawski of the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) in Poland. What is more, in May preparations were started for a German land leg of Nord Stream 2: the EUGAL project, owned jointly by Gazprom and BASF/Wintershall. According to the authors, this huge pipeline will change the European gas … [Read more...]
Brexit offers chance to finally put an end to the EURATOM treaty
All EU Member States are automatically obliged to be part of the EURATOM treaty, which promotes the development of nuclear power throughout the EU. It is high time to put an end to this situation, Â writes Hans-Josef Fell, president of the Energy Watch Group and a former member of the German parliament for the Greens. According to Fell, Brexit will offer a unique chance to dissolve EURATOM: since the UK will have to leave EURATOM as a result of … [Read more...]
Nuclear energy in the UK after Brexit
Opinions differ as to how Brexit will affect the UK’s plans for 19 GWe of new nuclear power, in particular the controversial Hinkley Point C project by French state-owned electricity company EDF, which will consist of two 1650 MW EPR reactors from French supplier Areva. Dan Yurman, nuclear expert and publisher of the blog NeutronBytes, has made a roundup of reports and opinions about the future of nuclear energy in the UK. … [Read more...]
Vieuws Video: EU far from meeting Paris climate goals
Sonja van Renssen, energy and environment journalist, is joined by Tom van Ierland, Deputy and Acting Head of Unit C1. Strategy and Economic Assessment DG Climate Action, Jonathan Gaventa, Director, Third Generation Environmentalism (E3G) and EirikWærness, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, Statoil to debate the question: “Did Paris deliver the low-carbon investment signal Europe needs?”. This highlight video presents the core … [Read more...]
EU carbon market hit by Brexit, but reform carries on
Will the reform of the failing EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) be a casualty of Brexit, now that the UK, one of the biggest carbon markets in the EU, may leave the system? As the EUEnergy App shows, greenhouse gas emissions in Europe have gone down drastically since 1990. But not thanks to the EU ETS. What is more, in the coming years much greater emissions cuts are needed, and the carbon market is expected to deliver these, with or without the … [Read more...]
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