Major crises await Europe in light of energy production problems

Energy supplies in the United Kingdom and Europe have become more fragile for technical reasons, the most important of which is dependence on wind and other irregular energy sources, and political reasons, foremost of which is dependence on Russia.

In a report published by the newspaper " The Independent" ( Independent , UK), the writer Hamish McRae says that although the transmission speed of the United Kingdom towards alternative sources of power generation, they will continue to need gas as a fuel reserve.

Record levels of energy prices in Europe due to the widening supply crisis

The writer believes that the Kingdom suffers from several problems that explain the energy crisis, as it lacks sufficient facilities to store gas, and there are many obstacles to building new nuclear power plants.

Energy problems in Europe

The writer adds that this “chaos” is not limited to the United Kingdom, but includes Europe and other regions. If you travel to some areas with emerging economies, you should expect power outages at any time, which makes many of these countries rely on backup generators, But you won't see that in the developed world.

The UK has finally started operating a power cable from Norway, the longest underwater power cable in the world. The idea is to bring clean hydropower from Norway and export clean wind power from the UK.

But one of the problems that hindered the project is that Norway experienced a drought that reduced stored energy to its lowest level in 10 years, and not only will exports be limited, but the Nordic countries will face very high energy bills, 5 times the level they were last year .

According to the author, Germany has made great strides in the transition to renewable energy sources, but ordinary coal and brown coal provided more than a quarter of its needs in the first half of this year, and it will be difficult to reduce this percentage when the country closes its remaining nuclear plants.

As for France - a country that has bet heavily on nuclear energy - last year, nuclear energy provided 70% of the country's electricity needs, which is the highest percentage in the world, but the total capacity of production operations has not increased since 1999, and it is now slightly less than It was at the time.

In Italy, fossil fuels provide more than 60% of production capacity, with imported gas making up the largest proportion of the mix.

The need for Russia

The writer points out that there is a great debate in Europe about Germany's completion of the construction of the new gas pipeline from Russia under the Baltic Sea, known as the "Nord Stream 2" project, as observers wonder whether this line will make Europe more in need of Russia, or vice versa.

Many experts believe that Russia can now use energy more effectively as a weapon against Europe, and this makes energy supplies in the UK and Europe more fragile and vulnerable.

In addition to political factors, there are technical reasons for concern - according to the author - as Europe depends on wind and other irregular sources, the United Kingdom suffers from regulatory problems, France is facing difficulties in building new nuclear power plants, while Germany completely refuses to rely on nuclear energy. .

The writer believes that what is most disturbing is that these problems that Europe is going through come at a time when the global economy is taking the first steps of a structural transformation towards moving away from fossil fuels and reaching carbon neutrality.

This transformation may be hindered by many obstacles, with the rush to rely on electric cars - for example - the United Kingdom will not be able to generate enough electricity to run it.

The writer concludes that the closest expected crisis in the coming winter is the power outage in light of the increased demand for energy for heating, especially if the wind does not provide sufficient energy.