Simon Göss provides a written summary of our two panel discussions held in Brussels on Thursday December 8th 2022. Panel 1 was titled “The Availability and Affordability of Gas and Energy in CEE and EU”, Panel 2 “The War in Ukraine: Security of Critical Energy Infrastructure”. The issues covered include EU policy interventions for countering the Russian weaponisation of energy, cooperation with Ukraine, how far is Europe prepared, spill-over … [Read more...]
What was Europe’s dependence on gas prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
### REGISTER NOW ### for our vitally important 2-panel event “The Energy Crisis and Russian Aggression Against Ukraine – Key Challenges for the Central European Energy Sector”, on Thursday December 8, 13:00 – 17:00 CET (Address: Rue Belliard 40, 1040 Brussels). High-profile confirmed speakers include Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy, EC; Leszek JesieĹ„, Chairman of the Board, CEEP; Jerzy Buzek, MEP and former president of the … [Read more...]
Russia-Ukraine: Critical Infrastructure Protection from sabotage is an unprecedented challenge the EU must face now
### REGISTER NOW ### for our vitally important 2-panel event “The Energy Crisis and Russian Aggression Against Ukraine - Key Challenges for the Central European Energy Sector”, on Thursday December 8, 13:00 – 17:00 CET (Address: Rue Belliard 40, 1040 Brussels). High-profile confirmed speakers include Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy, EC; Leszek JesieĹ„, Chairman of the Board, CEEP; Jerzy Buzek, MEP and former president of the … [Read more...]
What is the potential for offshore wind in the Baltic Sea?
What is the potential for offshore wind in the Baltic Sea? Simon Göss summarises the panel discussion that brought together Marcin Nowacki (President of the European Enterprise Alliance), Dariusz LociĹ„ski (President of the Management Board, PGE Baltica), Pierre Tardieu (Chief Policy Officer at Wind Europe), Ricardo Williams (Policy Officer for Infrastructure and Regional Cooperation at DG ENER, EC) and Pernille Weiss (MEP and ITRE committee … [Read more...]
Russia’s war is accelerating the clean energy transition, says IEA
The IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2022 is predicting that fossil fuels will peak in the next five years, “thanks to” Russia’s war and the resultant energy crisis. National climate promises are being turned into policies that improve energy security, which mostly means reducing dependence on gas. That means global energy demand growth to 2030 will “almost entirely” be met by renewables. Simon Evans at Carbon Brief takes an in-depth look at the … [Read more...]
Geopolitics and energy security require the U.S. and its allies to lead on Nuclear
Combine the current energy crisis with the geopolitical ambitions of Russia and China, and you have your reason for why the U.S. and its allies should prioritise nuclear, argues Robert Ichord at the Atlantic Council. All three nations have well-developed world-leading nuclear sectors. But it’s Russia that has been the largest exporter of nuclear reactors to the world market. Meanwhile, China has the most plants under construction at twenty. The … [Read more...]
Event Summary: “CHINA: Carbon Neutral by 2060 – The Future of Gas”
Here are the written highlights of our 2-day 4-session workshop “CHINA: Carbon Neutral by 2060 – The Future of Gas”, compiled by Helena Uhde at ECECP. Here you can quickly see the main points made by our expert panellists. Global events have made gas the hottest of issues, and the implications for both Europe and China are strongly reflected in all the sessions. The four session topics were Security of Supply, CCUS for the Gas Sector, Competitive … [Read more...]
Record Renewables additions for 2021 and 2022 despite supply bottlenecks prove Solar & Wind’s resilience
Despite – or perhaps because of – global market and political turmoil, renewable power is set to break another record in 2022. That’s after 2021 also saw record new capacity from solar, wind and other renewables worldwide. It’s mainly driven by solar PV in China and Europe as governments around the world take advantage of renewables’ energy security and climate benefits, according to the IEA’s latest Renewable Energy Market Update. 295GW of new … [Read more...]
How could Germany wind down Russian oil imports by the end of 2022
Berlin has said that, though difficult, it could become independent of Russian oil imports by the end of 2022, with a target of halving them by the middle of the year. Kerstine Appunn at Clean Energy Wire compiles information on the practical challenges for Germany’s oil infrastructure, refineries and security of supply. Germany is serviced by three pipeline systems for the west, the east and the south of the country. But they are not connected … [Read more...]
What is Energy Security? And what it isn’t
What is energy security? That’s what Maximilian Auffhammer at the Energy Institute at Haas asks and tries to answer, and he starts by saying what it is not and what solutions should not be used. Not importing won’t help because prices are global. “Energy security” can’t be taxed as an externality for much the same reason. Subsidising high prices for consumers decreases the value of energy efficiency investments. Instead, Auffhammer says the … [Read more...]
Germany’s electrification ambitions: TSOs scenario for 91% Renewables by 2045
The German TSOs submitted in January scenarios for their grid to 2037, making projections for increasing electrification. In addition, and for the first time, they included an ambitious and long term scenario to 2045. By pure chance, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Germany’s response – to consider a reduction in its serious dependence on Russian energy imports – should make eyes turn sharply towards that 2045 scenario. Simon Göss at cr.hub, … [Read more...]
Germany suspends Nord Stream 2: Q&A on what happens next
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany has suspended the go-ahead of the switch-on of Nord Stream 2, the new pipeline for Russian gas imports. What does this mean for the pipeline and Germany’s – and the EU’s – energy strategy? With events moving so rapidly, the full picture cannot be clear. So Kerstine Appunn, Benjamin Wehrmann and Julian Wettengel at Clean Energy Wire raise the big questions and summarise the answers being given. Those … [Read more...]
Russia-Ukraine crisis: Germany suspends Nord Stream 2
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has suspended the certification of Nord Stream 2, the gas pipeline for importing gas from Russia, already built and waiting for approval for the taps to be turned on. The analysis of Germany’s security of supply, a key element of the certification, has been withdrawn and must now be reassessed. Opponents of Nord Stream 2 have always argued that – gas emissions apart – the threat of Russia reducing supply to exert … [Read more...]
U.S. shale production is rising. But by how much more, and how fast?
The dramatic increase in gas and electricity prices worldwide has raised concerns about energy security. It why U.S. shale production is rising. But by how much more, and how fast? Ben Cahill at CSIS looks at lessons learned over the last ten years by the sector to understand the drivers. Previously, shale firms grew so fast that many investors lost a lot of money. Then, the 2020 oil shock imposed discipline and firms preserved cash, but that … [Read more...]
Using ENTSO-E’s modelling for China’s grid expansion
The EU and China have similar challenges when expanding their complex grid network. Both have large populations and multiple borders (China has 23 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities and two administrative regions). Both must rapidly add clean power whilst ensuring energy security at the lowest cost. Helen Farrell at ECECP describes their project to use European ENTSO-E modelling tools to assess scenarios for China. One key … [Read more...]
