BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. In the short-run (ie this winter), the EU may burn more coal to replace gas that is not flowing from Russia, Ben McWilliams, energy and climate consultant at Bruegel told Trend.
He noted that that is because there is spare coal capacity in Europe that can be used.
“In the long run, the only solution will be renewables, electrification and decarbonisation. There will be no structural return to coal in Europe, not only because of public policy but also economics now dictate that new renewable capacity is far cheaper than new coal capacity,” the analyst explained.
McWilliams pointed out that the RePowerEU package launched by the European Commission and a range of announcements by member states signal an unwavering commitment to long-term climate goals as the long-term solution to this crisis.
He believes that more renewables are the long-term solution, and urgently needed.
“In the short run, increased natural gas production in the EU is conceivable and would be desirable to manage the cuts to Russian supply. The EU will also ask Azerbaijan to send more natural gas to the bloc in the coming years. Any boosts in gas production must be considered exactly for their use – “transition assets”, helpful for the next 10 years but ultimately giving way to low-carbon energy in the future,” McWilliams added.
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