​If we look at gas and electricity prices in Europe, it seems that we have overcome the energy crisis and successfully managed to wean ourselves off Russian gas. Europe has entered a new era, which has its own list of challenges. However, Russia’s plans for a new gas hub in Turkey should also be monitored.

The price of gas on the European market is now ten times lower than the record of August 2022, and warehouses are more than 70% full.

In recent days, a cold wave has swept through Europe, and gas ships have been diverted to longer routes to avoid armed conflicts that have broken out on their way. At one time, these reasons were enough to significantly increase the spot price of gas. What did not happen now.

Another factor was the slow economic growth of some European countries, such as Germany, which was reflected in the decrease in energy demand.

This is a strong signal that we have overcome the worst part of the nightmare that undermined our accounts and sharply raised inflation, writes Bloomberg in an analysis of the current situation in Europe.

But everything has its price, and the new reality has its list of problems. And we will see some of them below.

Renewable energy in Western Europe

Let’s divide Europe from the very beginning into two parts: west and east (which includes Romania).

First, in Western Europe there is a strong tendency to replace gas with renewable energy. If we want a greater supply of wind turbines and photovoltaic panels, we need to strengthen the networks.

In addition, renewable energy fluctuates with the vagaries of the weather, but is also vulnerable to extreme weather events, which have become more frequent in recent times. Storms destroy turbines, panels and ground power grids.

At the same time, there is a need to store and adapt to times when the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining.

Another challenge for the renewable energy sector is the fact that more than 90% of solar panels come from China, the International Energy Agency warned in a report published last week.

Read also Solar energy production will triple in five years / More than 90% of photovoltaic panels come from China, which is risky, IEA warns

“For security reasons, diversification is needed. That’s the right word: diversification. Dependence on one technology, one country and one route can be risky,” said Fatih Birol, Director of the IEA.

Therefore, it is necessary to build more factories in Europe and the USA. Panels produced here, even if they are more expensive than in China, will improve security of supply.

In addition, some of the consumption will be provided by liquefied gases, but the critical point now is the supply routes. We mean the Suez Canal and conflicts in the Red Sea region, and the alternative routes are longer and more expensive.

Gas in Eastern Europe

Romania and Southeast Europe as a whole still rely on gas, and plans are focused on strengthening the vertical corridor, that is, the pipeline infrastructure that goes from Greece (from where liquefied gases are brought to the ports), Bulgaria, Romania, here it branches to Moldova – Ukraine and to Hungary-Austria-Slovakia.

The gases that enter here either come from the Caspian Sea and Iran (via Turkey) or from other regions through the liquefaction process.

If we are talking about gases from Turkey, then there is a high probability that they are also Russian.

Read also: OMV Petrom assures that it does not import Russian gas from Turkey – Minister Burduja / But it is impossible to verify, because the gas is mixed in the pipelines

meanwhile in Russia

All this time, Russia does not sleep, but hatches a plan. Gazprom and BOTAȘ (the gas company of Turkey) are planning to create a huge new gas hub in Turkey, following some of Vladimir Putin’s earlier plans.

According to the Russian news agency TASS, representatives of BOTASH are expected to visit St. Petersburg, where Gazprom’s headquarters are located, in order to prepare in detail the creation of a Russian gas distribution center in Turkey, from where the gas will flow further. Europe. It cannot be more obvious than this.

Read also: How Turkey took Russia’s place on the EU gas market together with Putin / Romania will also import gas from Turkey through OMV Petrom

For this reason, the European Commission wants to abandon the use of gas as much as possible and no longer wants to finance gas infrastructure with European money, which affects the plans to expand the Vertical Corridor.

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