Russia’s military operation in Ukraine has been completed for a month. The United States announced energy sanctions against Russia two weeks ago, prohibiting the import of Russian oil and natural gas. However, allies in Europe have always been deeply dependent on Russian energy, and the degree of dependence varies among countries. The EU is sanctioning. There is still no consensus on the strength.
Comprehensive sanctions against Russian energy?
No oil or no gas?
Each member state has its own plans. Especially in the promotion of carbon reduction in Europe, imported natural gas is still an important pillar in the energy structure of many countries. Countries are racing against time to find alternative solutions, but is it easy?
"Hong Kong 01" focuses on sorting out data on the energy mix and sources of European countries.
Read Article Part 1 - EU + Western Europe Energy Profile
5. Poland: The media, gas, and oil all rely on Russia, really calm?
Basic energy mix: solid fossil fuels (42%), oil (30%), natural gas (15%), nuclear (0%), renewable energy (12%), other (1%)
As a good neighbor of Ukraine, Poland's response to the Ukrainian war can be said to be the strongest. Millions of refugees poured into the area, and every household welcomed it with open arms.
The Polish government is even at the "front line of anti-Russia" and strongly urges the EU to completely ban Russian energy imports.
However, as the fifth most populous country in the EU, Poland's energy confidence seems to be slightly insufficient.
One of the features of the country's energy mix is that coal use remains high, accounting for 42% in 2019, second only to Estonia (60%) among EU member states.
Poland's electricity supply is as high as 70% from coal-fired power generation.
Poland is the most reliant on coal-fired power generation in the EU, with a proportion of up to 70%, which brings carbon emissions and pollution problems.
The picture shows the Belchatow Power Station in Rogowitz.
(Getty Images)
At present, Russian natural gas accounts for about 55% of Poland's imports, while Russian oil and coal account for about 67% and 75% of its imports respectively, which shows that Poland's basic energy demand also relies heavily on Russia.
In order to catch up with the emission reduction targets set by the European Union, Poland has been seeking to introduce more natural gas to replace coal this decade. As Poland's long-term contract with Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom expires at the end of this year, Poland Some preparations have been made. In addition to increasing imports of LNG from the United States, in November this year, the natural gas pipeline connecting Norway will be completed and put into use.
In the longer-term energy reform, nuclear power will be the mainstay.
Authorities in Warsaw plan to start up its first nuclear power plant next year and expect the country to produce 6-9 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear power by 2043, accounting for 10% of overall electricity production, while the total investment in building nuclear reactors is expected to reach 22.5 billion euros.
Although Poland's shadow over the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the 1980s is deeper than that of many European countries, it seems imperative to develop nuclear power, and the current government regards nuclear power as a key part of getting rid of its dependence on coal.
Among them, Poland's nuclear power plant is located near the Oder river area on the border between Germany and Poland. Germany, which plans to de-nuclear electrification, is worried about nuclear power plants. Steffi Lemke, German Environment Minister of the Green Party, who advocates de-nuclearization, said last month. During a visit to Warsaw, legal means are not ruled out: "Nuclear energy is neither good nor safe in the eyes of Berlin." "If a reactor is to be built in Poland, we will follow up with appropriate legal documents... At the European level, this is Needless to say," Lemke said.
6. Baltic Sea: "Brexit to Europe" has already been deployed
Lithuania's basic energy mix: solid fossil fuels (3%), oil (40%), natural gas (23%), nuclear (0%), renewable energy (20%), other (14%)
As the former Soviet Union countries, the three Baltic countries are politically contending with the Russian Putin government to the end, but energy supply and demand are still inextricable.
Geographically, Northwest European countries have gas pipelines directly connecting major suppliers such as Norway, as well as multiple LNG terminals. In contrast, Eastern Europe, the Baltic Sea and the Balkans are more difficult to get rid of their dependence on Russian gas pipelines. .
Among them, Lithuania is one of the most dependent European countries for Russian energy. Last year, the import of Russian oil and gas and electricity cost 3 billion euros. Up to 69% of imported oil came from Russia, and Russian natural gas accounted for 42% of imports.
Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Lithuania has been one of the countries with the strongest voice in support of Ukraine, and in recent years has also made efforts to get rid of its dependence on Russia.
(Associated Press)
Latvia's basic energy mix: solid fossil fuels (2%), oil (37%), natural gas (22%), nuclear (0%), renewable energy (37%), other (2%)
Estonia's basic energy mix: solid fossil fuels (60%), oil (4%), natural gas (8%), nuclear (0%), renewables (24%), other (4%)
In the past few years, the European Commission has allocated a total of 1.6 billion euros in batches to help the Baltic countries disconnect from the Russian grid and connect with the European Union instead.
In addition to the preparation of the power grid to "bring out Russia and join the European Union", the three small countries living in the shadow of the Soviet Union have begun to deploy to reduce their energy dependence on Russia after the Crimea incident in 2014.
For example, the Klaipeda floating LNG terminal in Lithuania, which has been operating since 2014, supports half of the demand in the Baltic and Finnish gas markets.
As for Latvia, 90% of the country's natural gas imports last year also came from Russia, but the authorities pointed out that the import of large quantities of Russian gas is based on cheap prices, not without other options.
With proper planning, the Kalipeda LNG terminal is sufficient to supply the three Baltic countries.
In addition, Estonia announced this month that it is moving forward with a planned ten-year energy project, a floating terminal for LNG.
Authorities estimate that the cost of buying an LNG carrier is around 300 million euros.
7. Four Central European Countries: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Hungary have their own positions
Czech basic energy mix: solid fossil fuels (34%), oil (23%), natural gas (17%), nuclear (18%), renewable energy (11%)
The Czech government has yet to take a position on a possible EU ban on energy imports from Russia, with Prime Minister Petr Fiala repeatedly saying the bloc must reduce its reliance on Russian fossil fuel imports but not supporting an import ban.
About 90% of the Czech Republic's natural gas is imported from Russia; 50% of its oil consumption is imported from Russia; the country has its own coal mines and imports additional coal, mainly from Poland.
Czech economists believe that a ban on Gazprom is dangerous for the Czech economy, but an oil ban can be dealt with more easily.
Basic energy mix in Slovakia: solid fossil fuels (17%), oil (21%), natural gas (24%), nuclear (13%), renewable energy (13%), other (1%)
Slovakia's Prime Minister Eduard Heger said Slovakia supports the EU's ban on all Russian goods, including oil and gas.
87% of Slovakia's natural gas consumption comes from Russia.
Economy Minister Richard Sulíkr warned the ban could have consequences for Slovakian and European industries.
For now, one of Slovakia's countermeasures is to import LNG through tankers. The first tanker arrived in March and is enough to meet Slovakia's needs for a week.
"Of course, it's more expensive to ship gas from the U.S. by tanker than from Russia via pipeline, but that's life, and we have to learn to live with it," Sulik said.
On March 8, Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger discussed military, energy and economic cooperation with Johnson in London.
(Getty Images)
Austria's basic energy mix: solid fossil fuels (10%), oil (37%), natural gas (22%), nuclear (0%), renewable energy (30%), other (1%)
Austria, like Germany, is very dependent on Russian fossil fuels.
New Chancellor Karl Nehammer pledged to support EU sanctions on Russia, but warned of possible "consequences" for Austria.
80% of Austria's natural gas is imported from Russia, and 10% and 5% are imported from Norway and Germany respectively. Therefore, Austria is more dependent on Gazprom than Germany in proportion.
The federal government is also drawing up plans to rapidly expand renewable energy and is exploring alternative natural gas sources in the Middle East, as well as LNG supplies, including from Italy's Adriatic Sea via the Adria-Vienna pipeline North coast transported to Austria.
Hungary's basic energy mix: solid fossil fuels (8%), oil (31%), natural gas (32%), nuclear (15%), renewable energy (11%), other (4%)
Hungary imports most of its oil and gas from Russia.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said he would oppose energy sanctions at the EU level: "While we condemn the Russian military aggression and we condemn the war, we will not make the Hungarian family pay." Energy giant Gazprom has signed a new fifteen-year gas supply agreement.
Nonetheless, Budapest has begun to diversify its imports in recent years, including access to LNG supplies from LNG terminals in Croatia.
8. UK: More energy independence after Brexit
Basic energy mix: solid fossil fuels (3%), oil (40%), natural gas (36%), nuclear (6%), renewables (15%)
The United Kingdom, which has already left the European Union, is no longer bound by the European Union on whether to sanction Russian energy. In fact, its dependence on foreign energy imports is low, with a dependence rate of only 35% in 2019.
First, half of its natural gas supply comes from the country, and imports are mainly from Norway and Qatar.
On the oil side, Russian imports account for 8% of the UK's total oil demand, although the UK is itself a major producer of crude oil and petroleum products, and can also increase oil imports from the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and the United States.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was greeted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on March 16.
Johnson is expected to seek Saudi Arabia to increase oil supplies to Britain to wean itself off Russian oil this year.
(Associated Press)
According to the US International Trade Agency (ITA), the energy industry is the most promising industry in the UK from the perspective of market overview and transaction data.
The UK has a thriving energy market, with the energy sector generating more than $130 billion in economic activity.
The energy sector supports 738,000 jobs in the UK - equivalent to 1 in 49 jobs.
The Johnson government has pushed the UK to move towards a low-carbon economy. In 2019, the UK became the first major economy to enact legislation to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and fully develop renewable energy.
Therefore, Johnson can be said to be confident in the UK's ability to get rid of Russian energy: "The Putin government illegally invaded Ukraine, and we will deal another economic blow to them - the UK will be free from dependence on Russian oil within this year, and severe international sanctions will be imposed. Another city."
9. Small European countries: Can only wait for the EU to bail out?
Some smaller European countries are completely dependent on Russian gas, including Slovenia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, etc. Most of them are members of the former Yugoslavia or the former Soviet Union, and most of them are not members of the EU , so I believe it will continue to import Russian energy.
As for EU members such as Romania and Slovenia, they have not expressed their opinion on whether they are in favor of sanctions against Russian energy. At this stage, discussions focus on exploring other sources of imports and reducing dependence on Russia.
On the other hand, after Russia merged into Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, Ukraine has stopped buying natural gas from Russia since 2015 and has instead bought natural gas from the EU, but this means that it has only re-imported Gazprom through the EU, At the same time, it reflects that many European countries do not rely on Russia for imports on the surface, but in fact they still come from Russia.
*The basic energy mix (energy mix) of the above countries are all 2019 figures.
Detailed dismantling｜Russia’s confidence? A list of European energy fundamentals (Part 1) Reducing energy dependence on Russia The EU and the US reached a large natural gas deal Ukraine｜Another “F”: How long can the Russian economy sustain under the chain effect of the food crisis and sanctions ?
｜Experts have something to say
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