A silver lining about sky-high power costs is that they assist elevate consciousness about the necessity to save power, argues Frans Timmermans, the vice-president of the European Fee in command of the Inexperienced Deal.
Power effectivity advocates have lengthy complained that measures to cut back power consumption are typically uncared for in favour of extra seen insurance policies just like the deployment of renewables.
However the drawn-out power disaster Europe is at present mired in could lastly flip the tide, they hope.
Talking at a Brussels occasion on 13 October, the EU’s local weather chief mentioned power financial savings have been the surest method out of the disaster within the brief time period.
“The period of low cost fossil gas is over. For good. It won’t come again,” mentioned Timmermans who’s European Fee vice-president in command of the Inexperienced Deal.
And whereas the “period of low cost renewable power is actual” and coming quick, “it’s not coming quick sufficient to unravel the issues this yr or maybe subsequent yr,” he conceded.
So within the meantime, “saving power, not utilizing power, is the most affordable power clearly,” he mentioned in a speech on the European Power Effectivity Day 2022.
Shopper subsidies ‘derailing’ the inexperienced transition
Timmermans was talking forward of an EU summit on 20-21 October the place heads of state and governments will talk about power worth caps and and joint fuel purchases amongst a variety of choices to handle the disaster.
They will even underline the necessity for longer-term options like fast-tracking allowing for brand new renewable power tasks and demand discount measures, in response to draft summit conclusions seen by EURACTIV.
Effectivity advocates who spoke on the occasion have been fast to focus on the synergies between renewables and power effectivity, saying they’re complementary and shouldn’t be portrayed as rivals.
Renewables and effectivity are the “two most vital devices” for preventing local weather change, despite the fact that they’re “fairly often” pitted towards one another, mentioned Monica Frassoni, president of the European Alliance to Save Power, which organised the occasion.
And despite the fact that fuel costs have retreated in current days because of a heat autumn and full storages, saving power stays Europe’s finest ally for the approaching winters, Timmermans insisted.
Governments, nevertheless, are sometimes working to undermine effectivity insurance policies.
For the reason that power disaster began one yr in the past, European governments have earmarked almost €500 billion to cushion residents and firms from hovering fuel and energy costs, in response to analysis printed by think-tank Bruegel final month. And billions extra are being spent on new fuel provide offers and infrastructure to exchange Russian imports, Bruegel famous in a current examine.
This beneficiant authorities compensation for fossil fuels danger “derailing” the inexperienced transition, warned Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Local weather Basis.
“And that’s in full contradiction with the investments we want in renewable power and power effectivity,” she warned, mentioning that budgets for power effectivity and insulation are “magnitudes” aside in comparison with budgets allotted for fossil gas subsidies.
Public consciousness on the rise
But, with rising utility payments, all households in Europe at the moment are scrambling for methods to chop their power consumption.
“You realize, my mother talks about this. Her pals speak about it. On everybody’s thoughts is: ‘how can I save power?’,” Timmermans mentioned.
“The local weather isn’t the rationale for them to suppose that,” the Dutchman identified. “The principle cause is that they will’t afford to pay their power payments anymore. We have to react to them and we have to persuade our residents that there are methods of saving power.”
But, shoppers usually discover it tough to navigate the totally different power options on supply, mentioned Monique Goyens, director basic of the European Shopper Organisation (BEUC).
Power corporations must make the “transition straightforward” to grasp for shoppers by placing clear info on the market for them, whereas making it “enjoyable” on the similar time, she argued.
“Essentially, folks discover power boring,” she remarked saying folks don’t put hours selecting power like they spend hours selecting a automotive or a smartphone.
“That signifies that, if you wish to have interaction them within the power transition, you must make this transition straightforward” with info given to shoppers “in plain language” and with out acronyms.
Making power effectivity a part of the combo
Nonetheless, policymakers are searching for fast fixes to rising power costs like worth caps, or hydrogen.
“We’re in an power disaster. Everyone knows this. There isn’t a silver bullet to this disaster. And it’s it’s right here to remain,” defined Quentin Galland, public affairs and regulatory director at Knauf Insulation.
In response to Galland, “insulation is an effective place to begin.” Warmth pumps, which make environment friendly use of electrical energy to supply warmth, “may help scale back reliance on fossil fuels,” he remarked. However their effectivity is lowered when homes will not be effectively insulated, he added.
With warmth pumps requiring electrical energy to run, investing in insulation may scale back the general demand for electrical energy, which might be a “win-win for shoppers,” he defined.
In the meantime, executives within the electrical energy business are calling for sooner build-up of renewable capability.
“Accelerating the method requires a societal change. And the entire of Europe isn’t prepared,” warned Simone Mori, head of Europe at Enel, the Italian electrical energy big.
Power corporations have a enterprise mannequin which is “not naturally coherent with the concept of selling a super-fast acceleration of investments” in decentralised photo voltaic PV technology or power effectivity, he famous.
“Fairly often there’s a lack of specialized workers” to hold out these duties with shoppers, Mori remarked, saying Enel is searching for to handle this by supporting coaching for younger folks at universities in addition to reskilling programmes for present professionals.
For Galland, policymakers can even discover inventive methods of selling investments in power effectivity.
“Why not have a look at together with power effectivity as a part of the power combine that member states are reporting on? This might additionally assist drive investments into power effectivity,” he urged.
[Edited by Frédéric Simon]
