Europe’s energy war is becoming total. As countries look for alternatives to Russian gas, populations are being prepared for pain
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskOnly a month ago it looked like a crisis might be avoided—just. As America cranked up its exports of liquefied natural gas , its share of Europe’s total gas imports rose from 6% in September to 15% in May, even as Russia’s slumped from 40% to 24%. What gas Europe needed from its troublesome neighbour still flowed.
Then two things happened. On June 8th a fire shut down the Freeport gas-liquefaction facility in Texas. The outage, which is expected to last 90 days, has deprived Europe of 2.5% of its gas supply. A week later Gazprom, a Russian energy giant, said that supply to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would fall to just 40% of capacity, ostensibly because of the delayed return of a turbine being serviced in Canada . That took another 7.5% off Europe’s supply.
That raises questions about the continent’s ability to stay warm this winter. Moreover, gas-fired power generation has become the marginal source of electricity supply over the past year in western Europe, implying that its cost is what sets power prices across the region. Last year this was partly because renewable-power generation was hampered by droughts and insufficiently strong winds.
One way Europe copes with imbalances is through trade. France, once the region’s largest exporter of power, is now buying electricity from its neighbours. Wholesale gas is now dearer in Germany and eastern Europe, because of the reduction of supply through Nord Stream . That will incentivise flows from Britain and Spain, which haveterminals. But it will not increase the aggregate supply of fuel and power. And there are signs that, in a crunch, unity could fray.
A persistent supply shortfall means demand will have to adjust. High prices might do part of the job. But rationing may also have to be imposed on gas- and power-hungry companies, such as producers of fertiliser, glass and steel. How drastic those curbs are, and whether they end up being extended to households, will in turn depend on two wild cards: winter temperatures on the continent; and the extent to which China bounces back from covid-19 lockdowns and soaks up more.
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