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A 10-Point Plan to Reduce the European Union’s Reliance on Russian Natural Gas
…of the solution, but even very rapid deployment will take time to make a major dent in demand for imported gas. The faster EU policy makers seek to move away from Russian gas supplies, the greater the potential implications in terms of economic costs and/or near-term emissions. Circumstances also vary widely across the EU, depending on geography and supply arrangements.Reducing reliance on Russian gas will not be simple, requiring a concerted and sustained policy effort across multiple sectors, alongside strong international dialogue on energy markets and security. There are multiple links between Europe’s policy choices and...
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How to Avoid Gas Shortages in the European Union in 2023
…natural gas markets are not yet out of the danger created by Russia’s cuts to pipeline deliveries of gas. If gas exports from Russia drop to zero and China’s LNG imports rebound to 2021 levels, there is a risk of a shortfall gas supplies in 2023. Measures already taken by EU governments on energy efficiency, renewables and heat pumps should help reduce the size of this potential natural gas supply-demand gap in 2023. A recovery in nuclear and hydropower output from their decade-low levels in 2022 should also help narrow the gap. Despite all of this…
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Coping with the Crisis: Increasing Resilience in Small Businesses in Europe through Energy Efficiency
…world, making their survival essential.To help smaller businesses overcome these perilous challenges and to sustain European economies, the European Commission and the International Energy Agency have teamed up to raise the awareness of governments, businesses and related stakeholders about the available options to empower and protect SMEs. These include EU support measures currently available to SMEs that can be tailored to meet their specific needs. They also include steps that businesses can take themselves to use energy more efficiently and wisely, making them more resilient and secure – both in the short and in the long term.In this document…
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Is renewable energy capacity in the European Union making windfall profits from high wholesale prices?
…data are limited concerning non-policy factors, including long-term bilateral power purchase contracts, developers’ hedging strategies and exposure in the wholesale electricity market. To understand these non-policy factors, we examined the balance sheets of the European utilities with large operational renewable and fossil fuel capacities. Policy schemes In the European Union, policy schemes make more than half of utility- and commercial-scale renewable power capacity (including large-scale hydropower) eligible to receive wholesale energy prices. Excluding hydropower, wholesale market exposure is under 40% for wind, solar PV and bioenergy technologies. Hydropower plants, which account for one-quarter of…
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Is the European Union on track to meet its REPowerEU goals?
…energy does increase in all three of these sectors by 2027 in our main-case forecast, in none of them are levels consistent with the REPowerEU plan. While the share of renewables in electricity expands to almost 55% by 2027 in our main case, this is well below the 69% share the European Commission estimates is needed to support the REPowerEU plan. To enable further increases, governments across the European Union will need to minimise policy uncertainty, simplify permitting procedures and accelerate transmission and distribution network upgrades. Ramping up renewables-based power generation is also essential to expand renewable energy…
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Northwest European Hydrogen Monitor 2022
Northwest European Hydrogen Monitor Northwest Europe is at the forefront of renewable and low-emission hydrogen development. This region accounts for around half of Europe’s total hydrogen demand, and has a vast and untapped renewable energy potential in the North Sea. It also has a well-developed, interconnected gas network which could be partially repurposed to facilitate the transmission and distribution of renewable and low-emission hydrogen from production sites to demand centres.The development of renewable and low-emission hydrogen in Northwest Europe is expected to gradually scale up in the short- to medium-term to reach a…
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Will new PV manufacturing policies in the United States, India and the European Union create global PV supply diversification?
Renewables 2022 This report forms a component of Chapter 4 of Renewables 2022 and addresses a key question in renewable energy markets. The high level of geographical concentration in the global PV supply chain has led the European Union, India and the United States to introduce policy incentives to support domestic PV production. This could result in an unprecedented expansion of PV manufacturing outside of China in the next five years. However, diversifying manufacturing will be possible only if production costs fall to ensure competitiveness with the lowest-cost producers (e.g. in China and ASEAN countries) in both the short and…