The war twists the arm of states with environmental commitment
It is no secret to anyone that Russia is twisting the arm of more than one European government, forcing it to ignore its programs to migrate energy production from fossil sources to renewable sources with little or no environmental impact. The material cost is enormous, but it is even more so in terms of the erosion of public confidence in these reconversion programs with an environmental fee.
Added to the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is the drought and consequent downflow of the rivers that is taking more than one hydroelectric plant out of production. In Spain, August is going to close with a 50% drop in the contribution of these plants, forcing demand to be diverted to combined cycle plants, which are another quagmire, since they work with a combination of natural gas turbines or water steam. And while water is scarce, gas stops coming or costs twice as much. Even Norway, which produces 96% of its energy with hydroelectric plants, has seen the capacity of its reservoirs reduced by almost a third and is forced to limit its electricity exports. This is bad, considers the Norwegian government. “The last thing we need is to undermine the cooperation and predictability of trade and energy flow on which Europe’s energy transition depends,” admits its Ministry of Energy.
War and drought fell at the same time on a continent that was decisively advancing towards renewable energy sources. But for the moment, the most ambitious environmental goals have had to be frozen to revive old plants fed with peat, lignite, coal and anthracite, the types of coal that are still abundant in the old continent.
France, which produces 77% of its electrical energy with 58 nuclear power plants, is seeing itself in figurines to supply them with the water they need to cool the reactors.
An atomic plant that produces 1,000 MW (one and a half Itaipu turbines) consumes 20 million cubic meters of fresh water per year. France has an installed power of 63,000 MW in nuclear reactors that compromise 126,000 cubic hectometres of water per year, a critical figure in a country with receding rivers.
The immediate future, with winter at the door, is an energy diet for a continent accustomed to abundance.
