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New Energy World
New Energy World embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low carbon technologies.
How Europe’s cooling problem is heating up
19/7/2023
6 min read
As Europe experiences another sweltering summer, policymakers need to pay closer attention to the growing need for space cooling. Energy journalist Karolin Schaps investigates whether Europe can address its rising need for cooling down in a sustainable way without further straining the region’s electricity grids.
With global temperatures expected to surge to fresh record levels in the coming five years and beyond, European energy market experts are growing increasingly concerned about an additional strain on electricity demand on top of energy transition electrification – the rising need for space cooling.
The past eight years have been the warmest on record and the summer of 2023 looks likely to bring new temperature peaks, as the first days of June showed considerably hotter weather than normal. The unusually high temperatures last month laid bare how severe the consequences of increasing cooling demand are on power grids. In Texas, electricity demand reached new record highs powered by air conditioning, Chinese local governments called on citizens and businesses to reduce electricity demand, and power reserves reached a record low in Mexico.
Similar consequences are currently less strongly felt in Europe, where electricity demand from air conditioning remains relatively low and has mainly been concentrated in the Mediterranean region. However, the expected rise in temperatures across the whole continent and improved standards of living will move Europe’s electric cooling demand increasingly into the spotlight.