About: energy supply

Ukraine’s elections highlight deep divides over natural gas

The direction of Ukraine’s energy policies is of great interest to observers in Brussels and the European capitals, as a stable and prosperous Ukraine would increase overall European energy security, writes Robert Rapier.

Emissions injustices committed against Greece must be corrected

The EU established its criteria for awarding free CO2 emission allowances in 2013. However, it failed to take into account the tough economic conditions that lay ahead, writes Georgios Andriotis.

New Deal needed to combat energy poverty

As I write this, an elderly person is deciding whether they can afford to heat their home, a parent is choosing a warm meal over a cold bath for their child, and a household wonders if it can pay its bills. This is unacceptable, writes MEP Theresa Griffin.

UK energy regulation fails consumers

An engrained, institutional bias in favour of building new energy production assets to boost supply means that cost-effective ‘no build’ technologies for managing - and reducing - demand on the consumer side have been ignored, writes Sara Bell.

Bulgaria challenges Russia on energy issues

While there is significant disagreement within the Kremlin about how to deal with Sofia's challenge, Moscow is running out of ways to push Bulgaria into fast-tracking its commitment to South Stream, says Stratfor.

Hungary’s bid to nationalise E.ON could spur funding backlash

  Hungary's plan to nationalise E.ON is the latest instance of the Orbán administration's efforts to consolidate control over the country's energy and utilities sector. The operation is expected to cost nearly €2 billion at a time of challenging economic problems for the country, writes Stratfor.

Finland seeks greater regional collaboration

Finland is considering increasing its military cooperation in the north, something it had been reluctant to do in the past because it did not want to damage its economic relationship with Moscow, writes Stratfor.

‘Collective Putin’ mismanages Russia’s energy sector

Little will change in the poor management of Russia's energy sector with the return of Valdimir Putin as president of Russia, says Mikhail Krutikhin in an analysis initially published the European Union Institute for Security Studies.  

Achieving European growth through efficiency

Offshore wind cost reduction, natural gas and energy efficiency are some of the solutions that the EU could use in order to achieve its ambitious targets and boost its competitiveness in the energy arena, writes Anders Eldrup, chief executive of Dong Energy

Improving European energy infrastructure

The European Union needs to create the energy infrastructure that is needed to secure the continent's energy independence, including by completing projects on time and establishing smart energy networks, argues MEP Francisco Sosa Wagner.

Gas security in Central and Eastern Europe: Connected, coordinated and consolidated

Central and Eastern European gas markets have long suffered from isolation and fragmentation, leaving them vulnerable to both supply disruptions and to monopoly pricing power. However, new research suggests that countries collectively negotiating with gas exporters could remedy this problem, argues economist and energy researcher Edward Hunter Christie.  

Europe and the rising powers

The EU's diplomacy skills need to be kick-started to reflect a geopolitical shift towards the East, writes Grigory Nemyria, former deputy prime minister of Ukraine.

Who ‘lost’ Turkey?

Recent events show that relations with Turkey deserve to be taken more seriously, writes Joschka Fischer, a former German vice-chancellor and foreign minister and former leader of the German Green Party.

Europe’s energy partnership with Central Asia is not viable

It will be "impossible" to develop a viable energy partnership between the EU and Central Asia unless the Union is able to speak with one voice about the Nabucco pipeline and the way it wants to engage with the region's energy suppliers, according to Luba Azarch of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).

Financing energy initiatives in developing countries

Innovative ways of financing projects may help in to tackle the twin challenges of economic development and environmental sustainability, writes Arno Behrens, a research fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), in a recent paper.

Gas Supply and EU–Russia Relations

“EU energy policy towards Russia damages security of supply because it neglects the specific aims and propensities of Russia and Gazprom,” argues Evart Faber van der Meulen, Coordinator of EU Studies at Leiden University, in a recently published paper.

Solar energy from the Sahara: When will it be feasible?

"The EU and its North African partner countries should […] establish the regulatory basis necessary for the development of solar energy in view of offering a reliable and long-term framework for potential investors from both sides of the Mediterranean," writes Eberhard Rhein, a lecturer at the Mediterranean Academy for Diplomatic Studies in Malta, in a June post on Blogactiv.

Learning from the Crisis: Securing European Natural Gas Supplies

"A larger, well-interconnected market receiving supplies from a variety of exporters is expected to be the best insurance" against gas delivery disruptions, writes Arno Behrens, a research fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), in a March paper.

EU energy policy: Towards a third industrial revolution

"Within a single generation, we can give Europe a truly sustainable energy system," writes EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs in a February paper for the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies.

Resource crises: Should we strike a deal with the dealers?

The current high prices for oil and foodstuffs are indicators of an imminent crisis in the world economic order, which fails to internalise ecological limits and resource scarcity, says Luxembourg Green MEP Claude Turmes.

Energy: The end of the world as we know it

The rising cost, increased demand and limited supply of oil as well as the slow development of alternatives are all leading to a new world order that will be based on supply and demand economics - with power resting with oil and gas-abundant states, argues Professor Michael T. Clare of Hampshire College in a 17 April commentary for Middle East Online.

The Caspian oil export puzzle

The Caspian region is on the verge of becoming a "significant" source of oil supply to rival Iran and further developments in the area are "eagerly awaited" by Western and Asian consumers, argues Julia Nanay of PFC Energy in an analysis for Total Energies magazine.

Deciding the future: Energy policy scenarios to 2050

To meet the energy demand of all households, worldwide energy supplies must double by 2050, according to a new World Energy Council (WEC) report published at the WEC session from 11-15 November in Rome.