According to the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Europe must immediately prepare for a complete shutdown of Russian gas supplies this winter. “Europe should be ready in case Russian gas is completely cut off,” Faith Birol said in an interview with the Financial Times. The cutbacks decided by Russia last week may be a prerequisite for other cuts, she argues, in Moscow’s attempt to use it as a ‘lever’ for the war on Ukraine.
“The closer we get to winter, the more we understand Russia’s intentions,” Birol told the FT. “I believe that the cuts are aimed at preventing Europe from filling up stocks, and at increasing Russia’s leverage in the winter months.” The IEA, financed mainly by OECD countries, recalls the FT, last year was among the first official bodies to publicly accuse Russia of manipulating gas supplies to Europe in view of the invasion of Ukraine. Birol said he believed some emergency measures taken by European countries this week to reduce gas demand, such as turning on old coal plants, were justified by the scale of the crisis, despite concerns about rising emissions.
In the event of a total stop of Russian exports, however, according to Birol, countries should do everything possible to ensure that the stocks are filled. “I think there will be more and more profound measures on demand,” by governments in Europe “as winter approaches,” he said, stating that he believes rationing in the event of further cuts is a real possibility. According to the head of the IEA, European states should try to delay the closure of all nuclear power plants destined for closure to help limit the amount of gas burned in the production of electricity: “They should consider the possibility of postponing the closure until there are security conditions ».
In an IEA report, released today, on investments it emerges that governments are still not doing enough and that total energy investments are expected to grow this year by 8 percent to 2.4 trillion dollars, with growth coming from renewables. and higher costs. Without policies to significantly reduce fossil fuel consumption, the world will continue to face dangerous swings in oil and gas prices, Birol said. “Unless governments sit in the driver’s seat and mobilize more funds to create a clean energy transition, we will face extreme energy volatility,” he said. As for developing countries, “one of the most worrying trends” according to the head of the IEA is their “relatively weak” investments in clean energy.