Europe’s scorching summer causes unexpected strain on energy supplies

FEDERATION, Norway – In a Nordic enclave known for its steep fjords where water is almost a lifeline, Sverre Eikeland has shrunk down the rocks that form the wall of one of the country’s main reservoirs. Norway, through the driftwood protruding like something caught. teeth of the dam, and standing on dry land that should have been flooded.

“You can see the strip where the vegetation stops, pointing at a barren, barren line 50 feet above the surface of the Skjerkevatn reservoir,” said Eikeland, 43, chief executive officer of Agder Energi. “That’s where the water level should be.”

“We are not used to drought,” he added, shrugging. “We need water.”

It was a summer of heat and drought across Europe, affecting nearly every part of the economy and even its normally cool regions, a phenomenon exacerbated by climate change. artificial climate change. France has been ravaged by extensive wildfires, and its Loire Valley is so arid that it is possible to walk across the river elsewhere. The Rhine in Germany flooded an inch deep, crippling essential commerce and aground riverboat excursions. Italy is drier than at any time since 1800, and growers of the country’s iconic rice used in risotto are now at risk of losing their crops.

But perhaps the most surprising impact of the drought can be found in Norway’s often flooded south, where sheep are trapped in exposed mudflats and salmon lack the water to migrate upstream. . Supply from the hydroelectric lake – which accounts for 90% of Norway’s electricity production as well as exports to several neighboring countries – has fallen to a 25-year low, causing shortages that have caused both prices and political tensions increased.

The harsh summer heat and devastating drought, coupled with Russia’s weaponization of natural gas exports – in response to European Union sanctions for its war in Ukraine – all combined to expose the vulnerabilities of Europe’s energy system in unexpected places and unforeseen ways.

In France, warming rivers have threatened the use of nuclear reactors. In Germany, the Rhine is too low to transport the coal the country is using to make up for lost Russian gas. And in the UK, the driest July in nearly 90 years ignited bushfires around London and left thousands of northern houses without electricity.

“We call it a perfect storm where the country’s political and industrial leaders gather to debate,” said Steffen Syvertsen, chief executive of Agder Energi, who is in nearby Arendal. on whether the “Energy Crisis”, as the local media now call it, requires a review of electricity export agreements with the European Union and the UK, or new subsidies for consumers. Norway to ease the price spike.

In addition to Russia’s gas cuts, demand spiked as the economy emerged from the pandemic, the failure to add other renewables like wind to its energy portfolio, and the worst drought ever. over the years has driven Norway’s electricity prices to record levels, especially in the more populous south.

While Norway is eager to integrate into the European market, the resource-rich country, which is a major exporter of gas and oil, is under pressure to keep more of its energy to itself. “The best way to solve this crisis and get energy security is as quickly as possible to be independent from Russian gas,” Mr. Syvertsen said. “But it’s a big task.”

On Tuesday, Chancellor Jonas Gahr Støre told German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, during a visit to Oslo that although Norway will keep its commitment to supply electricity to the EU market, it cannot stockpile any more any gas exports.

And Germany needs more gas. Severe drought there already talk about investing in nuclear power and has depleted the important waterways for transporting coal.

German coal-fired power plants are scattered along the banks of the Rhine from Duisburg in the west to Karlsruhe close to France, but the shallow water level means that large, coal-carrying ships can only carry about a third of the load. their capacity.

Last week, Uniper, a major utility, announced that it would have to reduce output from two of its coal-fired power plants because it could not bring enough coal up the Rhine to burn them at full capacity.

On Wednesday, the official water level of the Rhine at Emmerich am Rhein, a town just upstream from the Dutch border, fell below zero, breaking a record set in October 2018. Boats running too deep to reach the upper reaches of the Rhine must now stop to offload some coal and continue with a lighter load. Smaller boats managed to pick up the slack, which blocked the passages on the water.

Pascal van Berk, dispatcher at Orsay coal port, north of Duisburg, said: “We have more ships on the pier wall, where there is a sprinkler system that runs around the clock to prevent coal dust and the construction industry. loading 150 coal wagons to transport to taxed railway yards. “I still have a lot of work to do.”

The The most severe drought on record in France has also taken a toll on the country’s energy production, as nuclear plants responsible for more than 70% of the country’s electricity production have had to temporarily cut operations to avoid dangerously warm water discharges. dangerous to rivers.

Many of France’s 56 nuclear plants were out of service because of maintenance problems. But the rivers that cool the reactors have become so warm from the heat that strict rules designed to protect wildlife have prevented the release of even warmer water from the plants. object back to the waterline.

This month, France’s nuclear energy regulator allowed five plants to continue discharging warm water into rivers it called “public demand”.

In England, the extreme heat that turned lush fields into straw has led to grid operator Hire more staff amid concerns about power shortages.

In Norway, winters without much snow and particularly dry springs, including the driest April in 122 years, have reduced water levels in lakes and rivers. Shallow water in Mjøsa, the country’s largest lake, has kept its famous Skibladner rowboat tied at port and prompted city officials in Oslo to send out messages urging people to take shorter showers and avoid watering grass.

“Let’s do it for Oslo,” reads the text message, “so we still have water for the most important things in our lives.” In May, Statnett SF, the operator of the national grid, sounded the alarm about shortages.

But the skies were no relief and this month, as the country’s hydroelectric reservoirs – particularly in the south – hit what Energy Minister Terje Aasland called “very low” levels, producers Hydroelectricity has cut production to save water for next winter.

Reservoirs are about 60 percent full, about 10 percent less than the average over the previous two decades, according to data from the energy regulator.

Southern Norway, which contains more than a third of the country’s reservoirs, is dotted with red barns in green fields and fishing boats along the coast. On a spring in the Agder region, a sign erected by the energy company, like a relic from another time, warns, “Water levels can rise suddenly and without warning.”

But recent months have shown that there is a danger of falling water levels. Reservoirs have dried up to a 20-year low, at just 46% full. One, Rygene, was so low that it forced a temporary factory closure. On Tuesday, rainstorms returned, but the ground was too dry, Eikeland said, surveying the basin, that the earth was “drinking all the water” and that water levels in reservoirs had barely risen.

He sped his tram further south to Kristiansand, where a large grid carries electricity across the south of the country and into Denmark. In a fenced area above a hill, a Norwegian industrial developer is building a data center for customers like Amazon that will capture a significant portion of the electricity produced in the country. water to cool huge computer servers.

Mr Eikelandsaid said that this year’s drought only highlights the urgent need for a broader energy transition.

“The drought shows that we are not ready for big changes,” he said, but also “we are not going to accept high prices.”

Reporting was contributed by Christopher Schuetze from Germany, Constant Méheut from France, Gaia Pianigianni from Italy, Isabella Kwai from London and In Henrik Pryser Libell from Norway.