Asks governments in the EU bloc to speed up the process of expanding renewables and to work more on saving evergy
The European Union could face a major shortage of gas in 2023, if Russia cuts its supply further, said the International Energy Agency (IEA) in a statement release on Monday, December 12. According to a report by Euronews, the IEA also stated that the EU has sufficient gas to last this winter and urged the government to save energy and speed up the expansion of renewables.
The EU managed to avoid major shortage this year, but the agency warns that next year could be even tougher. “This is a serious challenge,” said Fatih Birol, IEA Executive Director, the report states. He said,
“The shortage could be averted by expanding subsidies and policies to renovate gas-guzzling buildings, replace fossil fuel-based heating with heat pumps and massively expand renewable energy”. Birol added, €100 billion investment will be required for the shift and that would be paid back within two years thorough low energy bills.
The IEA further states that, if the already reduced supply of gas from Russia is stopped and China´s demend increase after the economic lows due to COVID 19 lockdown, EU could fact a major shortage. This could create a gas short fall of 27 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2023. As the total gas consumption of the EU in 2021 equates to 412 bcm, this deficiency in the supply of gas could create major problems, the report said.
Meanwhile, EU country leaders will be participating at a summit in Brussels to prepare the early contingency plans for energy supply next winter. The summit is scheduled to take place on Thursday.
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