Damascus-SANA
At a time when most of the world's countries are struggling to secure energy supplies, drought is rearing its head to override the food security crisis, threatening an additional disaster affecting global energy security due to the pivotal role that water plays in the production and generation of electricity and the extraction of oil.
Water is used in all stages of energy production, whether for cooling or to generate electricity after being heated and converted into steam, and even in extracting oil from the ground, which European experts have warned about, expressing concern that the increasing effects of climate change, especially drought, will threaten energy production across Europe.
Both Europe and Britain are increasingly feeling the repercussions of drought on energy production. Since the summer of last year, many wind turbine power plants have stopped due to weak winds, forcing many countries such as Germany, Britain, the Netherlands and others to restart coal-fired power plants after they were It was taken out of service to meet the goals of combating climate change, according to the British iNews website.
A report by the website considered that the indicators of energy poverty increased in Europe after the Ukraine crisis at the beginning of this year and the sanctions imposed by the European bloc countries against Russia and the effect of global warming, which made drought rates this year higher than last year.
The first half of 2022, according to the British newspaper The Independent, witnessed a sharp decline in energy production from hydraulic sources that depend on water flow as a result of rainfall, while companies producing energy from hydraulic sources in Europe faced a severe crisis as a result of the severe drought, which forced some of them to buy electricity from the market. The immediate wholesale to fulfill its obligations towards its contractors, thus bearing huge losses.
And the British newspaper The Independent saw that while the Europeans are working to reduce their dependence on energy sources from Russia in the framework of the sanctions imposed on Moscow, their energy generation problems from sources other than oil, gas and coal are exacerbated. It is expected that with the onset of winter, energy poverty in Europe and Britain will become more severe The impact, especially with predictions of a significant increase in electricity prices as a result of the lack of production.
Drought, water scarcity and low river levels lead to double dilemmas between the increased demand for energy and disruption of its production processes, which ultimately leads to continuous waves of price hikes for the final consumer, because power plants will not operate without water, as they use different types of fuels such as coal, gas and energy. Nuclear boils water and turns it into steam that drives the turbines inside the turbines to produce electrical energy, and the same movement also occurs in the process of cooling those plants.
With regard to hydroelectric stations, electricity is generated through the flow of water through dam structures to move turbines, and therefore the low water level affects productivity mainly, especially that these stations contribute 17 percent of electricity production globally, according to the International Energy Agency.
Water scarcity and drought not only impede the production of electric power, but also the production of fossil fuels, because hydraulic fracturing technology depends primarily on pumping water into the ground to crack rocks and release oil and gas, as one oil well consumes more than 15 million liters of water, while refining needs One barrel of oil to one and a half barrels of water, according to the American Petroleum Institute.
Hydroelectric power contributes to producing two-thirds of Brazil's electricity needs, but drought and water shortages have reduced the flow of water to dams, prompting it to resort to gas markets, which has pushed prices to record highs.
While Britain officially announced that the sources of the Thames, the country’s most famous river, had completely dried up, the level of the Loire River in France fell dramatically after all its tributaries dried up and the water receded from its sandy banks, reducing the production of electricity in four nuclear power plants that used its water for cooling operations.
Drought adds a new challenge to the list of challenges not only in Europe, but also globally in terms of energy security and ensuring the flow of supplies from it.
Nidal Al Suwaidi
