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Wind Europe chief: Europe is “extremely vulnerable” to energy disruptions
🇳🇴 Norway /Energy & Infrastructure

Wind Europe chief: Europe is “extremely vulnerable” to energy disruptions

From Aftenposten · () Norwegian

Translated from Norwegian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Analysis Named sources Context piece
  • Wind Europe chief Tinne van der Straeten says Europe remains highly exposed to fossil-fuel price swings and supply disruptions.
  • A Wind Europe study estimates that a faster renewable-energy transition could save Europe €1.6 trillion by 2050 compared with a slower shift.
  • Wind power supplies 20% of Europe’s electricity, but van der Straeten says renewable deployment, especially offshore wind, is not advancing fast enough.

Europe’s dependence on imported fossil fuels has left it vulnerable to both price swings and interruptions in supply, according to Wind Europe chief Tinne van der Straeten.

“We are extremely vulnerable to price fluctuations and supply disruptions,” van der Straeten told E24 during the ONS oil and energy conference in Stavanger. She argued that Europe needs to produce more of its own low-carbon energy, with offshore wind receiving particular attention because its expansion remains too slow.

We are extremely vulnerable to price fluctuations and supply disruptions.

— Tinne van der StraetenThe Wind Europe chief described Europe’s exposure to imported fossil fuels.

The warning came as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz increased the European Union’s fossil-fuel import costs. The Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air estimated that EU countries paid an additional €54 billion, or 585 billion Norwegian kroner, for fossil imports between March and August.

The European Commission wants electricity to account for 46% of the energy mix by 2040. It estimates that this could reduce the EU’s annual import bill by 2.8 trillion kroner. A Wind Europe study puts the potential savings from a faster renewable transition at €1.6 trillion by 2050, compared with a slower transformation.

Therefore, we must produce our own low-carbon energy in Europe.

— Ursula von der LeyenThe European Commission president called for more domestic energy production.

Europe’s energy debate has also been shaped by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the Iran crisis in 2026, van der Straeten said. The EU responded to the earlier crisis with its RepowerEU plan, expanded solar and wind power and diversified gas supplies, including purchases from the United States. But the later disruption showed the risks of relying on energy imports from markets Europe cannot control, she said.

Renewables currently account for 20% of Europe’s total energy consumption. In the EU’s 2024 energy mix, crude oil and petroleum products made up 38%, gas 21%, renewables 20%, nuclear power 12% and solid fuels, mainly coal, 10%. Oil and gas executives at ONS nevertheless said Europe would need Norwegian oil and gas for a long time to come.

It was a wake-up call about putting our trust in energy imports from elsewhere that we do not control ourselves.

— Tinne van der StraetenShe described the lesson she drew from disruptions in global energy markets.
About this summary

Originally published by Aftenposten in Norwegian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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