Europe’s electrification is reaching its limits

Grids, costs and timetable as the central hurdles of planned electrification

Maurice Forgeng, EPOCH TIMES

With its new electrification plan, the European Commission is pursuing an ambitious goal: in future, electricity is to cover a considerably larger share of Europe’s energy consumption. Industrial processes, transport, building heating and numerous other applications are to be switched gradually from fossil fuels to electrical systems.

According to the EU Commission, electricity currently covers around 23 per cent of Europe’s final energy consumption. By 2030 this share is to rise to 32 per cent. For 2040, a share of around 46 per cent is the target. Europe is thus to become the world’s first largely “electrically powered continent”.

The Commission links several hopes to this: lower imports of oil and natural gas, less dependence on international energy markets, falling emissions and greater use of renewable energy sources. According to EU calculations, successful implementation could in the long term eliminate fossil energy imports worth up to 260 billion euros a year.

Electricity demand is growing faster than the infrastructure

An article by energy journalist Maurice Forgeng in Epoch Times, however, highlights the considerable practical hurdles of this project. The political target alone does not guarantee sufficient power generation, stable grids or an economically viable transition.

Anyone who wants to electrify transport, heating and industry at the same time increases electricity demand massively. At the same time, generation plants, transmission lines, regional distribution grids, transformers, storage and grid connections must be expanded accordingly.

Even today, numerous fully planned or partly built energy projects are waiting for a grid connection. The International Energy Agency points to around 600 gigawatts of renewable generation capacity waiting in queues for a connection across Europe. This makes it clear: success is not decided solely by building more wind and solar plants, but above all by the ability to transport, store and supply the electricity generated reliably and according to demand.

Electrification has to remain economical

Electricity prices are a further obstacle. Electrical technologies can be very energy-efficient. However, their use only pays off for households and companies if electricity remains affordable compared with gas, oil or other energy sources.

The EU Commission therefore aims to narrow the price ratio between electricity and gas. By 2030, electricity for households is to cost at most 2.5 times as much as gas, and for industrial companies at most twice as much. To this end, taxes, levies and grid charges are to be reviewed.

Whether this relief actually reaches consumers is, however, an open question. The necessary expansion of grids and storage requires considerable investment, which ultimately also has to be financed. If these costs are passed on mainly via electricity tariffs and grid charges, electrification of all things could make electricity even more expensive for many users.

Industry needs more than political targets

Switching energy-intensive industries is particularly demanding. High-temperature processes, steel production, chemical production or cement works cannot in every case be switched directly and completely to direct electrical applications.

Austria’s Ministry of Economic Affairs therefore also stresses that electrification must be combined with a comprehensive industrial strategy. Besides cheap electricity, digital grids, storage and flexible consumption models are needed. Where direct electrification is not technically sufficient, hydrogen, renewable gases or other storable energy carriers will continue to be needed.

A robust energy policy must therefore not rely on a single technology. It must take into account different forms of generation, storage solutions and regional conditions. Otherwise a new central dependency arises: almost all areas of life and the economy would depend on an electricity system whose infrastructure is already reaching its limits in many places.

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The technology section of Epoch Times regularly reports on current developments in energy, digitalisation and innovation – with a critical eye on opportunities, risks and technological trends in everyday life. Maurice Forgeng is one of the active editors in this section.

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Conclusion of the GAIA editorial team Decentralisation strengthens independence

Greater use of electricity can reduce fossil imports and advance efficient technologies. However, a politically decided electrification quota replaces neither sufficient generation capacity nor powerful grids, storage and realistic financing models.

For a resilient energy supply, Europe therefore needs more than central expansion plans. Decentralised generation, local storage, intelligent load management, technological competition and supply systems that are as self-sufficient as possible must be part of the strategy.

Real independence does not come from completely replacing one dependency with another. It comes from diversity, regional room for action and the freedom to generate and use energy where it is actually needed.

This article is based on the original article “‚Das ist kaum möglich‘: Energiefachmann sieht wenig Erfolgschancen für EU-Elektrifizierungsplan” (“That is hardly possible”: energy expert sees little chance of success for the EU electrification plan) by Maurice Forgeng, published by Epoch Times Germany. This version has been summarised and put into context by the editorial team. The original article can be reached via the source link.