EU Saved €12 Billion Due to Wind & Solar Expansion Due to Ukraine-Russia Conflict: Ember Report

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine that continues for a year now has proved to be a ‘blessing in disguise’ for the European Union with regards to renewables. An analysis by Ember – an energy think tank – has revealed that the European Union has saved more than EUR 12 million through a switch from Russian gas imports to the wind and solar power in the continent.

The Ukraine-Russia conflict began on February 24. From March, 2022 to January, 2023, the wind and solar capacity in the European Union grew by 50 TWh. Ember mentions that this capacity has produced about 23 per cent of the bloc’s electricity.

Ember said in its European Electricity Review 2023 that the expansion of the new wind and solar installations in a year since the war began in Eastern Europe, had compelled a reduction in the imports of gas requirements for power generation by 9 billion cubic meters. In terms of money, this would make a savings of EUR 12 billion or $12.78 billion.

Ember mentions that the EU faced a triple crisis situation last year. The EU was severing its ties with Russia that was supplying most of its gas requirements, the hydropower generation was weak due to the drought situation and the nuclear power was weakened as the French and German nuclear units were shutting down.

Ember also mentioned that all credit to the renewable energy development that EU was able to generate power and didn’t return to coal based electricity generation.

Sarah Brown, Senior Analyst, Ember, held, “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shocked Europe into action. Suddenly, gaping vulnerabilities due to fossil fuel dependence became a stark reality. The last year has been a scramble to address these risks through an accelerated transition to a cleaner, more secure power system. At the year marker of Russia’s devastating war in Ukraine, it remains critical that the EU rapidly expands solar and wind to attain permanent energy independence.”

With regards to its projections for 2023, Ember report says that this year will be quite the opposite as hydropower will rebound and French nuclear units will return. It said that wind and solar capacities will continue to accelerate and electricity demand is likely to continue to fall over the coming months. Also, the demand for fossil fuels – coal and gas – will further drop in 2023.

In March 2022, IEA proposed a 10 point plan for Europe to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies and made a strong pitch for more renewables to help Europe reduce its dependence on Russia. Many of the suggestions were taken up by the EU in its own plans.