Europe, which relies on "shared grids", may face a severe power crisis this winter. According to Reuters on December 4, French President Emmanuel Macron called on residents to cut energy use and restart nuclear power plants to prevent blackouts. According to the Financial Times, Europe's power grid faces its toughest test ever in the coming months and years. Since the 1990s, European countries have shared more than 15 percent of their electricity via cross-border cables, making Europe the region with the highest degree of electricity interdependence. But the shared grid system could collapse this winter because of geopolitical conflicts.
"Electricity is now a luxury for German families," Stefani, who lives in Berlin, told the Global Times. Her electricity bill was 1,800 euros last year and is expected to be around 2,500 euros this year. She has two concerns. One is that electricity bills will continue to rise. Second, if there is a power failure, home appliances will not be able to operate, and can not work at home.
The impact of electricity prices has been felt across Europe this year. According to the latest data released in early November, the European household energy price index has nearly doubled compared to last year, with gas bills soaring 111 percent and electricity bills up 69 percent, Euronews reported. Despite Europe's integrated gas and electricitymarkets and significant cross-border trade, there are infrastructure bottlenecks, differing power generation source mix and different policies on subsidies or price caps, the IMF paper said.
Power shortages are spreading across much of Europe. German newspaper Die Welt reported that grid operators believe coal is becoming scarce in Germany and Poland. Poland's net electricity exports are likely to be limited in the winter, according to information released by European power grid group Entsoe1 today.
According to the Financial Times, power-exporting countries such as Britain and France are preparing homes and businesses for a "worst-case scenario," including rolling blackouts and industrial supply disruptions. The head of France's energy regulator said the country faces blackouts this winter after repeated power cuts that have left the country's nuclear plants at their lowest capacity in 30 years, France 24 reported. Many European residents are worried about power outages during the Christmas holidays. The outage is considered a total collapse of Europe's transmission network, something that has not happened since the 1990s, TV2 said.
Earlier, the German Wind Power Network reported that, under a decision by the European Commission, each member state must be able to transport 15 percent of its electricity across borders by 2030. Not only will this improve security of supply across Europe, but European electricity trading will continue to grow. The goal is to create an energy union of the European single market, making it the backbone of the continent's energy transition.
European countries are building shared grids amid continuing concerns about regional energy supplies. Germany and the Nordic countries are building a 300-kilometer-long "Lufthansa Bridge" power line to share electricity, scheduled to open in 2026. That means: if it's so windy off Germany's Baltic coast that wind turbines produce more electricity than they use, the excess is sent to Sweden. There, it could be absorbed by pumped storage power stations or supplied directly to Swedish consumers. On the other hand, if there is a lull in wind power generation in Germany, Swedish hydropower will be tapped and the country's stored electricity will be used. In addition, Germany and Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia signed an agreement in June pledging "electric solidarity". In October, Greece and Egypt agreed to build the Mediterranean's first undersea cable to bring electricity generated by solar and wind power in North Africa to Europe, which could power up to 450,000 homes, the African news network Allafrica reported.
However, industry insiders are concerned about whether the shared grid will continue to function normally. According to the Financial Times, France, which is usually the largest exporter of electricity in Europe, has become a net importer this year as it has to rely on countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom to make ends meet due to power outages. Europe's largest hydropower producer, Norway is also a big exporter of electricity, but low water levels this summer have put a strain on power. The Norwegian government has said it will restrict exports if the water level drops further. Countries such as Germany, Finland and Slovakia also plan to reduce electricity exports.
Zhao Yongsheng, a researcher at the National Institute for Opening-up and the Institute for Global Innovation and Governance at the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times that in the long run, shared grids, as a sustainable energy operation model, will further boost the European integration process. The Financial Times quoted Russell Hardy, chief executive of Vitol, the world's largest independent trader of oil, gas and electricity, as saying: "If any region becomes nationalistic in this situation, that puts Europe at risk."
According to Zhao Yongsheng, there are three main reasons for the difficulties of sharing power in Europe: geopolitical conflicts, exogenous energy crisis and endogenous energy crisis. The geopolitical conflicts are mainly between Russia and Ukraine, as well as the tussle between the United States and the European Union. Exogenous energy crisis refers to the EU energy crisis caused by Russia, a key supplier of energy to the region, and the soaring price of liquefied natural gas in the United States. The endogenous energy crisis stems from the existing imbalance between European countries in regional energy distribution and consumption, as well as the pains of energy transition.
On how to deal with Europe's energy crisis, the IMF wrote that the energy crisis poses a huge challenge that no European country can handle on its own, and that "deeper integration and accelerated investment can allow Europe to both overcome this crisis and facilitate the transition to cleaner, renewable and more affordable energy sources."