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.
Powering up: why electrification is key to building European competitiveness
2/7/2025
10 min read
Feature
‘Electrification is a catalyst for a resilient, competitive and climate neutral industry, shielded from fossil fuel volatility,’ according to a new report by Eurelectric and Accenture, presented at the Eurelectric Power Summit in Brussels in early June. New Energy World Features Editor Brian Davis reports on a timely conference focused on what the EU should do to accelerate the energy transition.
‘Europe has the power to play and the will to win’, was the key message of the Eurelectric Power Summit, reflecting EU response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the vital role of electrification to build European competitiveness.
Dan Jørgensen, EU Commissioner for Energy and Housing, was adamant: ‘No more will we let Russia weaponise energy and blackmail us.’ Three years on from the invasion of Ukraine, he claimed: ‘In many ways we succeeded. The EU got 51% of our coal from Russia, now we get zero; from 27% of our oil, we now get 3%; and from 45% of gas to 30%.’ However, the EU imported €33bn of Russian energy last year and still imports about €1.8bn per month.
Indeed, EU member states have to the end of the year to put forward plans to eliminate 100% of this dependency – banning new contracts and spot market contracts by year-end and halting long-term contracts by end-2027.