Energy and renewables are not enough: the risk of blackouts is growing in Europe

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The old does not die and the new cannot be born, and in this interval between the thrones, the European and Italian electrical systems are exposed to the fragility of the green transition. For now, there are no planned shutdowns or blackouts (like the one days ago in Berlin where hundreds of thousands of people were left in the cold for hours) but danger is right around the corner, and experts are calling for caution for the months ahead: From Copasir (Parliamentary Committee for the Safety of the Republic) agreed on Thursday until a study by Alessandro Clerici of the World Energy Council presented in December at a webinar for Entsoe, the European Union for High Voltage Grids, clarified indications that they are unique. They say beware of the “perfect storm”.

fragility of energy transmission

Even the electricity companies consulted, which are the largest, stress that interest should remain high but there are no conditions for concern. And they all repeat that the important thing is that the risk factors do not accumulate. All together, the fragility of the energy transition goes from fragility to crisis. As on highway construction sites, the steel shoulder of the European electricity system has narrowed and completely disappeared.

It happens that there are more phenomena related to the green shift. Renewable energy sources, as volatile as the wind and uncontrollable as the sun, are not growing fast enough. Germany has just shut down two nuclear reactors and is dependent on coal and methane because the wind contribution is less than expected. It’s the wind drying up that drives the North Sea wind companies crazy. Energy raw materials are disrupting not only gas but also lithium for electric cars and uninterruptible power supplies, and in Serbia agile committees are protesting against the huge mine that wants to open the multinational Rio Tinto.

French nuclear power is aging and requiring more and more frequent sanitary shutdowns, shutdowns that could have an impact on the availability of electricity on the import line between Grand’Ile-Rondissone (Turin). Large and powerful power plants have been decommissioned in the past, such as coal-fired ones, ensuring inertia and sealing even in frenzy of voltage and frequency, and replaced by the dispersal of many small plants, and the stability of high stations. The voltage drops. While the powerful batteries wait to unify the electrical system, gas stations are being planned.

Rising costs, crippling investments

This leads to an accelerated increase in costs, paralyzes already planned investments in ancient fossil energies, the returns of which span decades, and leads to a possible shortage of sufficient energy resources in the future”, especially if major developments in renewable energies and energy carriers will not reach Ambitious and timely goals,” Clerici warns of the World Energy Council. “And these potential risks, not only to prices, but to the safety and quality of the energy supply, could have serious implications.”