The energy crisis in Green Europe will continue in 2023 even if the supply of natural gas has increased thanks to deliveries from the U.S. On the other hand, in Germany, for example, it is reported that half of the remaining nuclear power plants have now shut down. Reliable energy is becoming less and less in Germany. Besides Germany, there are also other nuclear opponents in Europe like Austria or Luxembourg. However, there are countries like France or Finland that cover over 70% of their energy needs with nuclear power. In the case of a complete phase-out of fossil fuels, the only remaining question is which reliable energy sources will remain in Europe? The expansion in so-called clean energies such as solar or wind have led to this disaster because they are not reliable. The worsening relations with Russia make the situation in Europe even more complicated since one is also dependent on gas supplies from Russia. The gas benchmark in Europe Dutch TTF has increased this year by more than 400%.
Since the situation will continue to worsen in the next few years, many officials are now rethinking their position. Reuters reported that the EU is making plans to put gas and nuclear power on the green list. Europe, which has the highest carbon targets so far, has been arguing for a long time about which forms of energy are truly clean. Since the alternatives of reliable energy sources are limited, there is no other option than to think about nuclear power and natural gas. Currently, nuclear power is probably the cleanest form of power generation as it does not emit carbon into the air.
In January, the European Commission will decide what the framework for including nuclear power and natural gas in the “EU sustainable finance taxonomy” could look like.