The European Energy Commissioner, Cadre Simson, admitted, in an exclusive interview with Sky News Arabia, that the European Union made mistakes in its handling of the energy file, which were demonstrated by the Russian-Ukrainian war, stressing that the European Union will make efforts to prevent the recurrence of these mistakes by diversifying energy supplies and sources.
“A long-term miscalculation is dependence on one supplier.. Although we are currently resorting to alternative reliable suppliers, we are determined not to make the same mistake again, but rather we will rely on multiple partners by diversifying sources of supply,” according to what Simpson said, in an interview with the program The World of Energy on Sky News Arabia.
Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war in February of last year, a severe energy crisis has emerged in Europe, after Russian gas supplies were cut off to the continent, and gas prices rose dramatically, but European countries managed to store large quantities of gas, which helped them overcome an expected disaster. Widely used in winter, especially with unusually mild weather, and reduced consumption.
“It is true that last year was a big challenge for us,” Simpson said. “But the coming winter will also be challenging. This is because Europe was very dependent on the supplies it was receiving from Russia, as 40 percent of the natural gas we use in Europe to heat our homes and generate Electricity and the operation of our industrial sites used to come from Russia, and when we lose an actor of this weight among the energy suppliers in the market overnight, this poses a real challenge.”
The European Energy Commissioner added that the countries of the continent have succeeded in meeting this challenge, by dealing with other reliable partners who have agreed to increase their supplies through pipelines and liquefied natural gas.
“We got 50 billion cubic meters more LNG than the year before… On top of that, we received pipeline gas supplies from Norway, the UK and Azerbaijan,” Simpson said.
Declining consumption
Simpson said that the quantities obtained by European countries from alternative gas to Russian supplies were not sufficient, “so we had to reduce our consumption, and we did this and reduced our consumption by about 20 percent.”
She added, “We did not do this by reducing the heating rate, for example, but rather by compensating part of our electricity needs from renewable energies, and this means that we did not need our gas power plants to operate 24 hours a day or seven days a week.”
She pointed out that Europe’s success in filling its reserves and reducing consumption contributed to the decline in gas prices to what they were before the war.
Large stocks
The European Energy Commissioner said that the stocks of European countries under the ground amounted to three times what they were in the same period last year, “and therefore we are more prepared to receive the coming winter than we were when Russia began its war on Ukraine.”
She indicated that the European Union was also dealing incorrectly with these stocks, as it did not consider them of strategic importance, due to its consumption pattern.
“We consume 40 percent more during the winter than we do in the rest of the year, so we need stocks,” Simpson said.
She added, “Several large storage sites belonged to the Russian company Gazprom and then left them empty, and this in turn caused pressure on the market last year.. But today we feel that everything is under control and we consider the LNG infrastructure as a strategic structure, and perhaps this is one of the reasons that made us launch Temporary stores to secure our gas needs, which we also applied to oil products.
Simpson pointed to the difficulties related to importing LNG, “The LNG market is a global market, and European buyers have to bear in mind that there is constant competition with Asian markets, and this was one of the reasons that made us last spring unable to expect our success in replacing Russian natural gas.” 100 percent other alternative supplies.
She added, “It was always clear that we would have to replace part of the lost supplies from Russia with renewable alternative energies or through storage, which we have made a priority. On the international level, there are limits on how quickly gas producers can increase their production. It takes years. But Russian gas supplies have already shrunk. in the global market.
Back to using charcoal
The European Energy Commissioner said that the most prominent sector that still uses coal in Europe today is electricity generation, noting that Europe is nevertheless committed to stopping its use at a stage before 2035.
“We have to bear in mind that using coal to generate electricity will always be more expensive than producing renewable energies, given the price we pay in terms of carbon emissions… This means that renewable energies can meet our needs and that coal-fired power plants will do us more harm than good,” according to Ma. Simpson said.
Several European countries have resorted to coal in order to compensate for the energy shortage following the shortage of supplies from Russia. Some governments have re-operated coal-fired power stations after they had planned to close them, and other countries have expanded the opening of coal mines.
But the European Energy Commissioner said that “EU member states have already pledged to stop using coal at some point, before 2035. Half of the members have already stopped using coal, while the others have pledged to fulfill their promises and said that they will not need coal to generate electricity after 2035.” “.
The planet will not tolerate
“We know that we are in the midst of a transitional period,” Simpson said. “There are millions of people without electricity. We cannot meet the current needs by producing more fossil fuels, because our planet will not bear it. In this regard, it is preferable that we invest a lot of resources in research and innovation and find cheap solutions.” Fair, because winds and sun are available in all regions of the world, and not every country can produce oil or gas.. These renewable energies are produced locally, and this means that production opportunities are available to each country separately.
She added: “For now, Europe remains committed to decarbonising, and we will achieve this by respecting our national commitments in the decision-making process. Some EU members have told us that they will rely on nuclear energy, which is acceptable. Others said they want to invest heavily in Carbon Capture and Storage, this will allow them to capture CO2, which is a solution that will help the markets of various other countries around the world.”
“I believe that this is a joint effort that requires each party to play its role in it.. Of course, the major energy companies are more qualified to give up carbon in their activities, but this is also required of the rest of the world.. We have to fulfill the commitments we made at the Paris summit.. and if we don’t If we succeed in fulfilling our commitments, we will face climate catastrophes, and none of us wants to live in a situation like this,” according to what the European Energy Commissioner said.
Energy generation from the sun and wind in Europe exceeded that provided by gas