How Europe can cut gas consumption and energy costs – report

Europe can halve its power sector gas consumption, reduce energy costs by EUR 323 billion ($356 billion) and increase energy independence by 2030 if it rapidly scales up its renewable capacity.

This was the finding of the report, Europe’s Energy Future, published by global energy technology company Wärtsilä.

In the report, Wärtsilä calls on European leaders to coordinate investment and deliver up to 80GW per year of renewable capacity, backed by flexible balancing technologies such as energy storage and use of sustainable fuels.

Increasing the share of renewable energy in generation from 33% today to over 60% by 2030 would reduce electricity bills in the short and long term, potentially by up to 10%, states the report.

This approach, although ambitious, could cut annual power sector gas usage by 52% across the continent by 2030, states Wärtsilä, enabling the region to avoid 5,456 TWh of gas consumption and boosting independence.

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Sushil Purohit, President, Wärtsilä Energy and EVP Wärtsilä, said: “Cutting Europe’s dependence on expensive baseload fossil fuels and increasing energy independence need not cost more for power companies or energy consumers. Accelerating the transition to a clean energy system could save EUR 323 / USD 356 billion by 2030 compared to continuing the current pace of renewables growth.

“That is why we are calling for fast decisions to accelerate renewables, tackle the energy price crisis and enable rapid decarbonisation to avert the climate emergency. The time is now.”

Wärtsilä modelled two scenarios for Europe’s energy transition over the next decade, a baseline scenario based on the IEA’s Renewables 2021 statistics and the ambitious scenario, which would double the level of renewables added to 80GW per year.

To achieve the ambitious target, Wärtsilä makes the following recommendations in the report:

• Coordinate actions that can accelerate the scalability of innovation, increase economies of scale, plus provide incentives for investment.
• Enable additions of renewable electricity as quickly as possible, for example establishing permitting frameworks that give renewable energy projects priority status and fast-tracked approval, to accelerate deployment.
• Create market frameworks that encourage investments in flexible energy storage and balancing engines.
• Leverage public investment to secure private sector capital.
• Encourage cross-border infrastructure projects linking the energy systems of EU countries.
• Plan and prepare the right conditions to balance high renewable systems using Power-to-X capacity for sustainable hydrogen-based fuel production and convert balancing power plants to run that fuel from the 2030s onwards.
• Use the shift to high renewable energy systems in the power sector to begin electrifying related sectors.
• This will drive significant efficiencies, as well as deep decarbonisation needed to realise net zero

The report is available online.