Europe imports around 40% of the gas it consumes from Russia. A cut in Russian supply as Western economic sanctions tighten could plunge the bloc into a serious crisis that is already taking a toll on all of its electricity consumers.
The International Energy Agency (EIA) has proposed a 10-point plan to eliminate or reduce Russian gas purchases in the medium term. One of the core measures is to maximize generation from plants that generate few emissions, mainly bioenergy and nuclear generation.
“Progress towards net zero ambitions in Europe will reduce gas use and imports over time, but the current crisis raises specific questions about imports from Russia and what policymakers and consumers can do to reduce them,” says the EIA in a document published a few days ago.
Nuclear power plants are the largest source of low emission energy and 25% of the total generation of the European Union. But the plan of the West was to detach itself little by little from these plants, which have historically been a source of ideological dispute and for which Europe has not reached a consensus.
Following the Fukushima accident in Japan in 2011, Germany announced that it would abandon all of its nuclear reactors. Ten years after the announcement that had repercussions throughout Europe, the country – which is the most dependent on Russian gas – has already shut down almost all its nuclear plants.
The rest of Europe has similar plans. Four nuclear reactors are planned to shut down this year, with another in 2023. The scheduled shutdowns could come at a time when Europe needs them most.
France has already announced that it will increase its nuclear capacity. England will also replace some old centre-backs. The Netherlands and Poland also appear to be trending back to the use of nuclear reactors, while Belgium and Spain have no big plans to increase their nuclear generation, according to a Bloomberg report.
Some plants that were disconnected for maintenance during the past year could return to work during the following months.
In the midst of the energy crisis in which Western Europe is plunged, Finland launched a new nuclear reactor a few days ago, which raised controversy among its population. The Olkiluoto 3 plant, the first to open in the last 15 years, will help reduce its needs for Russian imports by delivering electricity to its national grid, thereby trying to reduce the high prices it has registered in recent weeks.