The war in Ukraine is directly affecting the energy supply, through gas and oil. The price of these two fuels has already skyrocketed and the coming months will be critical for the economy as a whole. It can be safely said that renewables at Ukraine conflict will be key to european energy system.
From the very day that Russian troops entered Ukraine, the price of gas began to rise at the rate of 1 euro per hour. That day, the price of natural gas soared between 30% and 40% and Europe prepared to use its strategic reserves.
But not only the price of gas was affected; the financial markets also began to experience significant declines. While February 24 -the day the tanks took Ukraine- was the worst day of the year for the Ibex 35, after falling 2.86%, renewable energies experienced a rise of 10% due to the energy uncertainty that is causing the conflict.
It is impossible to know what will happen in the coming months, but, without a doubt, the importance of gas, which, as we know, has marked the price of electricity in the marginal market during the last year, will have an enormous effect on the economy.
In fact, the European Union has not been slow to take action on this matter. The European Union together with the International Energy Agency jointly presented a 10-point plan to reduce dependence on Russian gas by 30% in less than a year.
Among the measures presented in this plan there is one that is probably the most logical and is gaining strength: to further strengthen the commitment to renewables. Faced with the increase in the price of electricity, which was already high before the war, European countries will have to make use of other alternative energy sources.
Pedro Sánchez and Ursula Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, already held a meeting a few days ago in which they discussed issues such as inflation, the price of energy or raw materials. In addition, they agreed that energy imports will be diversified and that, therefore, investment in renewables will also be increased.
It has been announced that the European Union has reached an agreement to mobilize close to 20,000 million euros that will be allocated to renewable energy and digitalization projects to speed up the recovery from the pandemic in the face of the uncertainty of the war in Ukraine.
Although a scenario in which a natural gas supply shortage occurs is quite unlikely, it cannot be ruled out. As many important figures within the European Union affirm, such as the French Minister of Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, the European system is robust, although it will be necessary to prepare for the coming winter.
In Spain, the situation is better than in Germany due to the gas reserves that our country has and its proximity to Algeria, another country that exports natural gas through the Medgaz pipeline. In addition, it has an advantage; According to a study, the price of electricity in Spain from 2025 will be cheaper than in the rest of Europe thanks to the introduction of renewables.
Therefore, and since the solution to lower prices seems to be renewables at Ukraine conflict, we should give a decisive boost to renewable energies and we may even have to shorten delivery times for generalizing the use of green hydrogen at competitive prices.
