Energy crisis dominates Europe agenda as winter approaches

ANKARA (AA) – Europe is facing a deepening energy crisis, partly because of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, as Moscow has suspended natural gas supplies in response to economic sanctions imposed by the West.

European governments are trying to diversify supplies and introduce measures to reduce demand and save energy.

Here are the latest developments on the energy front in Europe.

- EU

The EU's top energy official arrived in Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Tuesday to gather support for the Ukrainian energy sector, hit multiple times by Russian attacks.

"I am in Kyiv today to help scale up support to the Ukraine energy sector. Ukrainian energy infrastructure is under targeted attack by Russia - a cruel and inhumane tactic to cause human suffering as the winter is approaching. The EU stands by Ukraine to help them until they prevail," EU Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson said on Twitter.

In her visit that came a day after Russian missile strikes left many areas in Ukraine with no electricity or water, Simson said she was working to increase financial, technical, and practical assistance to the country, having witnessed the scale of the destruction there.

"This has to come from the EU institutions, the member states, our international partners and private donors. We have no time to waste!" Simson added.

Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been the target of Russian airstrikes since the start of the war in February, stepped up after an explosion damaged the key Kerch Bridge to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

Earlier, the US Department of State had announced a two-day visit to Ukraine by Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried.

The Ukrainian government rolled out plans on Oct. 20 to cut energy consumption across the country by 20% due to the lower output from damaged energy facilities.

According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 30% of the country's power stations were destroyed on Oct.10-18.

- France

Unions at France's GRDF gas supply company and Enedis electricity operator have announced strikes as negotiations continue for better wages.

Following the signing of an industry agreement in the energy sector on Oct. 18, it is now up to the companies to negotiate internal measures to compensate for inflation.

Strikes ended at the French state-dominated energy company EDF after an agreement was reached with the union.

However, negotiations have stalled at GRDF, where the CGT union has called for a one-day strike on Wednesday on the sidelines of a new negotiating meeting.

Also at Enedis, negotiations appear to be making no headway, with several unions involved calling for a one-day strike on Thursday.

"To influence the negotiations, we are all mobilizing on Nov. 3," the unions involved in the negotiations at Enedis wrote on a flyer.

- Spain

The Irun pipeline, which transports natural gas between Spain and France, began operating on Tuesday with 66% expanded capacity.

The 1.5 billion cubic meters expansion brings the pipeline’s capacity to 3.5 billion cubic meters. The increase represents an 18% boost in Spain’s pipeline export capacity to France and the rest of northern Europe.

The increase in capacity coincides with the beginning of the winter heating season and intends to strengthen the European gas network amid the Russian threat to cut off gas supplies.

According to Spanish transmission system operator Enagas, the expansion is part of Spain’s solidarity measures with Europe.

Spain has been relatively isolated from the rest of Europe’s natural gas infrastructure for years. As a result, the country built large numbers of liquified natural gas (LNG) plants.

Spain is home to 45% of the EU’s LNG storage capacity, according to Enagas, which could prove key as the EU weans off of Russian gas.

In the first eight months of 2022, Spain’s natural gas exports to France already increased 137% compared to the same period in 2021, according to Cores, the Spanish entity responsible for maintaining oil and gas reserves.

However, Spain’s still-limited connections to the European gas grid remain a bottleneck, limiting the transport of Spain’s abundant gas capacity to the rest of the EU.

While Spain and Portugal had been advocating to finish the construction of the MidCat pipeline, which would add a third pipeline connecting France and Spain, the project was scrapped less than two weeks ago after being met with an unenthusiastic French response.

Instead, the nations agreed to build a submarine pipeline connecting Barcelona and Marseille. According to Spain’s environment minister, the new pipeline will not be operational for at least four or five years.

In the meantime, the increase in the Irun pipeline adds some increased energy security, and Spain will continue re-exporting LNG on tankers.

Spain has also pledged to increase infrastructure at the Barcelona port so it can export more LNG to Italy by ship.

“In order to meet the gas needs of the population and our industries over the long term, we believe it is essential to build a flexible and resilient gas network, capable of making the most of all the infrastructures present in Europe,” said Dominique Mockly, the chairman and CEO of French operator Terega in a statement on the Irun pipeline expansion.