New energy suppliers, faster adoption of renewables and lower power consumption should help the EU get through another winter “without any major disruptions”, a bloc official has said.
Europe, which is looking to reduce its reliance on Russian natural gas exports, has boosted imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US and the Middle East.
“We have taken the decision to make sure that we go into the winter with gas reserves filled up [to] at least 80 per cent. We managed that last year and we want to do the same thing this year,” Andrea Fontana, the EU ambassador to the UAE, told The National in an interview last week.
Russia now makes up for less than 10 per cent of the EU’s overall natural gas imports, and it will continue to be replaced by other sources, Mr Fontana said.
“Meanwhile, the nuclear power plants that were undergoing maintenance have restarted their operations and gas reserves are monitored and more prioritised … I think that we are going to be fine,” said Mr Fontana.
“But, there can always be surprises.”
European gas demand was lower due to an unusually warm winter and as efforts aimed at reducing consumption reaped rewards. The European natural gas benchmark was last trading at about €53 per megawatt hour on Thursday after surging to €343 in August last year.
However, a rebound in LNG imports from China and a complete halt in Russian supply could result in the region falling short by about 27 billion cubic metres of gas in 2023, the International Energy Agency said in a report last year.
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Following an embargo on Russian crude exports in December, the EU recently banned imports of refined products from the country. The bloc, along with the G7, also imposed price caps on Russian shipments of diesel, naphtha and fuel oil.
“We are sanctioning Russian energy products because we believe that this is the main way Russia is funding this horrible war,” said Mr Fontana.
“We did not manage to completely isolate [Russia], but we see that their capacity to innovate [and] grow in new markets and new products has been severely depleted.
“The sanctions are having an effect, but perhaps not as big as we wanted, and the main reason is that not all countries are following our lead.”
Russian oil exports in January rose by 300,000 bpd from a month ago to 8.2 million bpd, the IEA said in its monthly oil market report on Wednesday.
The country’s export revenue stood at $13 billion, slightly higher than in December, but down 36 per cent from the same period a year ago, the agency said.
Meanwhile, the EU is moving ahead with its renewable energy plans.
This month, the bloc launched the Green Deal Industrial Plan to boost the “competitiveness” of Europe's net-zero industry and support the fast transition to climate neutrality.
The programme, which is a part of the European Green Deal, comes partly in response to the US Inflation Reduction Act, which includes hundreds of billions in federal subsidies for green technology.
The American legislation has been met with some opposition in the EU amid concerns that it would put European companies at an unfair disadvantage.
“We have been calling on the US to do more in the [clean energy] area, so it’s good that these steps were taken … where we see a problem within the IRA is the fact that it links the financial incentives to certain geographies and … that is not good for competition,” said Mr Fontana.
Investment in low-carbon projects is expected to increase by $60 billion this year, 10 per cent higher than 2022, led by wind and a “significant” rise in funding for hydrogen and carbon capture, according to Rystad Energy, an energy consultancy.
To ward off a near-term gas shortage, European countries have signed multiple energy agreements with Gulf exporters.
In November, QatarEnergy signed two sales and purchase agreements with ConocoPhillips to deliver up to 2 million tonnes per annum of LNG to Germany.
On Wednesday, Adnoc and German power company RWE announced the delivery of the first shipment of LNG from the UAE to Germany.
There is “no negotiation” taking place with players in the region currently, but talks will start soon with the UAE about a possible green hydrogen partnership, Mr Fotana said.
“We are working with our Emirati partners to identify areas where … a partnership could arise and I think that the most promising one for the moment is green hydrogen,” he said.
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February 24 will be a year since Russia started the Ukraine war. The National picks out the most powerful images from the conflict. AFP -
A member of Ukraine's 79th Air Assault Brigade fires a rocket-propelled grenade at Russian positions near Marinka in February. Reuters -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses MPs in Westminster Hall, London, in February 2023. Getty Images -
Destroyed buildings 32km west of the front lines in Donetsk in January. Getty Images -
An anti-aircraft gun in January fires at Russian positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk. Reuters -
Destruction in the village of Bohorodychne, Donetsk. AFP -
A Ukrainian artilleryman discards an empty shell on the outskirts of Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine, in December 2022. AFP -
Children receive presents from a Ukrainian soldier dressed as Santa on Christmas Eve in Sloviansk. Getty Images -
More than 1,000 missiles and rockets fired by Russian forces collected for cataloguing in Kharkiv in December 2022. Getty Images -
The Metro provides shelter as Russia launches another missile attack on Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, in December 2022. Getty Images -
Children at a PE class in Kyiv after Russia abandoned its attempt to seize the capital in November 2022. Getty Images -
A sniper searches for Russian positions on the bank of the Dnipro river in Kherson in November 2022. Getty Images -
Graffiti by Banksy on a wall among the debris in Borodyanka in November 2022. Getty Images -
Ukrainian flags flutter around graves in a cemetery for soldiers killed in action in Kharkiv in October 2022. Getty Images -
Parts of a drone, which Ukrainian authorities said was Iranian-made, after a Russian strike in Kyiv in October 2022. Reuters -
An elderly woman is helped across a damaged bridge in Bakhmut in October 2022. Getty Images -
Fuel tanks ablaze on damaged sections of the Kerch bridge in Crimea, in October 2022. Reuters -
A destroyed bridge makes crossing the Donets river difficult, in Staryi Saltiv, east of Kharkiv, in September 2022. AFP -
Firefighters at a thermal power plant in Kharkiv damaged by a Russian missile strike in September 2022. Reuters -
Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr with his daughter Nikole at Lviv railway station in August 2022. Getty Images -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and then-British prime minister Boris Johnson read a plaque in Kyiv in August 2022 dedicated to the latter for his support. Getty Images -
Destroyed Russian military equipment on Khreshchatyk street in Kyiv. The materiel was turned into an open-air military museum ahead of Ukraine's Independence Day on August 24. AFP -
Shakhtar Donetsk v Metalist Kharkiv kicks off the Ukrainian Premier League season in August 2022 amid fears of bomb and missile alerts. EPA -
Ukrainian servicemen fire an American-made 155mm M777 howitzer in July 2022 in the Kharkiv area. EPA -
A bomb crater on the Antonovsky bridge across the Dnipro river in Kherson, July 2022. AFP -
Maksym and Andrii with plastic guns at a 'checkpoint' they set up while playing in Kharkiv, July 2022. AP -
Ukrainian troops on Snake Island in June 2022. Reuters -
A woman evacuated from an area of conflict in June 2022 contemplates what the next move might be. AP -
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Kyiv in June 2022. Getty Images -
Graves in Irpin cemetery, May 2022. Getty Images -
A Ukrainian soldier trapped within the besieged Azovstal Iron and Steel Works complex in Mariupol in May 2022. Reuters -
The wreckage of a Russian helicopter in a bomb-cratered field in Biskvitne, May 2022. Getty Images -
A Ukrainian army officer inspects a grain warehouse shelled by Russian forces in May 2022 near Novovorontsovka, Kherson. Getty Images -
A boy from Mariupol arriving at an evacuation point in Zaporizhzhia in May 2022. Getty Images -
A Russian serviceman on guard outside Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in May 2022. AFP -
Oksana searches for salvageable items on the destroyed second floor of her home in Hostomel, April 2022. Getty Images -
A floral memorial wall in Lviv for Ukrainian civilians killed during the Russian invasion, April 2022. Getty Images -
People fleeing Lviv, eastern Ukraine, in April 2022, wait for a bus that will take them to Poland. Getty Images -
A Russian soldier patrols a bombed Mariupol theatre in April 2022, as Moscow intensified its campaign to take the strategic port city. AFP -
A Ukrainian celebrates success in Hostomel in April 2022. Getty Images -
Julia Palovskaya reads to children during an air raid drill in the basement shelter at a preschool in Lviv, April 2022. Getty Images -
Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Bucha in April 2022, where hundreds of bodies were found in the street and it was claimed the Russian leadership was responsible for killing civilians. AFP -
Oleh Smolin, 23, who suffered leg injuries from Russian shelling in April 2022, in hospital in Chuhuiv. Getty Images -
Fleeing refugees arrive at the border train station of Zahony, Hungary, in March 2022. Getty Images -
A father says goodbye to his daughter on an evacuation train about to leave Odesa in March 2022. AFP -
Ukrainians under a destroyed bridge as they try to cross the Irpin river on the outskirts of Kyiv in March 2022. AP -
People cram into Kyiv station to catch trains to Poland or to western parts of Ukraine, shortly after the initial invasion in February 2022. Getty Images -
A demonstration in support of Ukraine in Trafalgar Square, London, February 2022 . Getty Images -
Russian army vehicles in Armyansk, Crimea, in February 2022. AFP -
Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on February 25, 2022, in a video on Facebook. He said 'we are all here', shortly after the Russian invasion began. AFP -
A residential building damaged by a missile strike in Kyiv in February 2022. Getty Images -
A metro station in Kyiv in February 2022, crowded with people trying to escape the invasion. AFP -
A police officer addresses people gathered to protest against the invasion of Ukraine, in central Saint Petersburg, Russia, February 2022. AFP -
A protester in support of Ukraine, in Berlin, Germany, in February 2022. Getty Images -
Ukrainian soldiers prepare to repel an attack in Ukraine's Lugansk region on February 24, 2022. AFP -
Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on February 24, 2022, after Russia launched a full-scale invasion. AFP -
A mass exodus from Kyiv after pre-offensive missile strikes by Russian armed forces on February 24, 2022. Getty Images -
Security personnel inspect the remains of a shell in Kyiv on February 24, 2022, soon after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine. AFP -
CCTV footage shows Russian military equipment crossing a Crimea border checkpoint on February 24, 2022. AFP -
Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin early on February 24, 2022, when he announced a 'military operation' in Ukraine. AFP
