Europe’s failure to rapidly reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels following the 2022 energy crunch has drawn sharp criticism from the head of the International Energy Agency.
Fatih Birol warned that Europe’s electrification rate of roughly 23 per cent is actively undermining the continent’s economic competitiveness and strategic sovereignty.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Birol said: “This is in my view a major mistake for Europe.”
He added: “In general, I would have hoped and expected that Europe would have been more responsive to this crisis.”
Birol pointed to China, Japan and South Korea as models worth following, all of which have achieved electrification rates exceeding 30 per cent of total energy consumption.
Europe’s energy commissioner Dan Jorgenson also acknowledged that the EU’s heating, transport and industrial sectors remain heavily reliant on imported fossil fuels.
That reliance has left countries across the continent, including the UK, scrambling for supply security amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East, after US strikes damaged oil fields and major ports.
In March, the IEA warned the conflict was “creating a major energy crisis” and urged workers to work from home to help limit oil consumption.
Birol further highlighted that grid congestion, at both regional and national levels, continues to obstruct the EU’s broader electrification ambitions.
The European Commission is set to publish plans requiring member states to lower taxes on electricity and provide support for households adopting heat pumps, electric cars and other green technologies.
Those plans would partly be delivered by mandating that electricity face a lighter tax burden than fossil fuels, though the policy could prove costly for countries that depend heavily on revenue from electricity bills.
In the UK, energy secretary Ed Miliband remains firmly opposed to fresh drilling in the North Sea as he continues to advance his net zero agenda.
Incoming prime minister Andy Burnham is facing pressure from Labour MPs to reverse the government’s North Sea policy but remains “non-committal” according to one Scottish Labour MP.
The push for fresh drilling intensified after the owner of the Jackdaw gas platform warned the UK could face a domestic supply shortage this winter without production approval.
Adura chief executive Neil McCulloch cautioned that failing to approve new production would leave the UK with limited options in the event of “a gas supply emergency.”
The industry regulator is currently reviewing revised applications for production at Jackdaw and Adura’s Rosebank oil field, after a court ruled both had previously been unlawfully approved.