Energy security considerations may temporarily distract European governments from near-term decarbonisation efforts, but plans to reduce emissions will “remain intact” due to “increasingly ambitious” national and corporate climate commitments and intensifying moves to minimise fossil fuel dependency, said a new Moody’s report. Renewable energy will not be able to quickly replace Russian gas imports, said the ratings agency, noting that incremental efforts to date had only increased European renewable energy consumption from 16% of total consumption in 2012 to 22% in 2020. The report cites barriers to an extensive role for nuclear in the European power mix, including construction timelines for new facilities, advanced decommissioning of existing ones and investor concerns over the sector’s track record of “rampant cost escalation”. Although reducing Europe’s reliance on Russian fossil-fuel imports will require policy changes, infrastructure investments and capacity and storage improvements, Moody’s expects renewed long-term focus on clean energy and efficiency policies and further infrastructure investments.
