Security of Supplies
Keeping in mind the weight of energy in any country’s strategy for its sustained development, in particular for the European industrialized countries, the energy security has become one of the main concerns of their governments. For this reason, the world energy security was one of the main topics included in the G-8 Summit’s agenda, celebrated from 15 to 17 of July 2006 in San Petersburg, Russia. The leaders of the G-8 countries agreed that “the dynamic and sustain- able development of our civilization depends on reliable access to energy” (IAEA bulletin 2006). There should be no doubt that energy security, energy price, and energy reserves, among other relevant issues, will be on the agenda of future regional and international forums on energy matters and on economic and social development.
On the other hand, security of supply risks is also an important issue for the EU, particularly those related to:
• High dependence on foreign sources of energy imported from a limited number of suppliers (EU-27 currently imports 83.5 % of its oil and 64.2 % of its natural gas consumption);
• Overall import dependency is between 54 and 56 % and is projected to slightly
increase by 2050), including supplies from politically unstable regions;
• Gradual depletion of fossil fuel resources and rising global competition for energy resources;
• Increasing electrification from more varied sources (e.g., solar photovoltaic and
wind), which poses new challenges to the grid to ensure uninterrupted electricity deliveries;
• Low resilience to natural or man-made disasters and adverse effects of climate change.
It is important to highlight that there is no single energy source that is abundant and that has no drawbacks in terms of its sustainability, security of supply, and competitiveness (price). For this reason, the European region cannot exclude any type of available energy sources for the generation of electricity from its energy mix, without a thorough study of all pros and cons that the use of a specific energy source for electricity generation could have for the region as a whole.
In order to attain a sustainable energy supply system, it is very important that a portfolio of low-carbon energy technologies with a reasonable cost level becomes available as quickly as possible. Most probably, there will finally not be one single “best technology,” but depending on the local resources, power demand, and available infrastructure, a choice among available sustainable energy options will be made. Can renewable energy source technologies, including wind and solar PV, be considered as one of those sustainable energy options? Yes they can, but not in all cases with the same impact. In 2010, for the first time ever, more new wind power capacity was installed in developing countries and emerging econo- mies than in the traditional wind markets of the OECD. This puts an end to the assertion that wind power is a premium technology only for rich countries, which cannot be deployed at scale in other markets. It is also testament to the inher- ent attractiveness of wind power for countries striving to diversify their energy mix, improve their security of supply in the face of rapidly growing demand, and relieve national budgets of the burden of expensive fossil fuel imports at volatile prices. Environmental factors such as improving air quality and public health, and carbon reductions to fight against climate change also play an important role in many of these new markets.
Among the available options, fossil-fueled power plants combined with car- bon capture and sequestration (CSS) technology and nuclear energy cannot be excluded. Early experiments with CSS have been promising, and there appears to be a sufficiently large potential in underground reservoirs where CO2 can be stored safely for long periods (Metz et al. 2006).
EU energy import dependency for all fuels is between 54 and 56 %. A total energy import is expected to increase by 6 % from 2005 to 2050. The increase is rather limited despite expected decrease in indigenous production, as rising gas (+28 % from 2005 to 2050) and biomass imports are compensated by a marked decline in coal imports, while oil imports are expected to remain broadly stable. It is expected also that import dependency will rise above the present level, reaching 58 % in 2020 and flattening out to 2050 thanks to the increase use of renewable energy sources and, in some cases, nuclear energy for the generation of electricity.
More importantly, the EU is vulnerable to the increasing supply of some commodities by global oligopolies, which can create internal and external imbalances. The EU experiences of natural gas supply interruptions in 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010, as well as the EU strong dependence on imports of petroleum products and the geopolitical uncertainty in many producer regions, led to the adoption of the EC Regulation 994/2010 concerning measures to safeguard security of gas supply (Impact Assessment 2011).