New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
The EU faces an energy catastrophe if Russian supplies are cut
17/8/2022
6 min read
Feature
Selwyn Parker looks at the likely outcomes of Russia maintaining its stranglehold on European gas supplies this winter.
When Nord Stream 1, Europe’s most crucial gas artery, started pumping once again on 21 July 2022 after ‘routine maintenance,’ the literally burning issue was how much gas Russia would send through. Predictably, the most worried countries were those most dependent on Russian gas, notably Germany, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
And they were sorely disappointed. In early August the daily flow was down to just under 20% of Nord Stream’s maximum capacity of 165mn m3/d.
It gets worse. At 30mn m3/d the flows were roughly 40% of the previous low of 78mn m3/d recorded on 16 July. Currently, only one of the pipeline’s eight turbines is operating, according to the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES).