In Europe’s Energy Shift, Giant Bank Watchdog The Natural Gas Difference

One of the world’s greatest clean energy lenders sees a future for European natural gas investments. Authorities plan to give up coal and nuclear power might create openings for gas in the area, based on Thomas Brehler, global head of power, renewables and water at KfW IPEX-bank, the international export and project enterprise unit of Germany’s development bank. Natural gas, the least polluting fossil fuel, provides the most practical backup for a renewable generation until grid-scale storage arrives, he stated.

The illustrations highlight the potential for natural gas to stay a key energy source whilst European politicians work towards slashing fossil-fuel emissions. Whereas gas plants burn more cleanly than coal ones, environmental groups are pushing for eliminating all fuels that contribute to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. For KfW, that transition toward cleaner forms of energy would require gas plants as a method to make up for variable power supply from wind and solar farms.

A number of European nations are tilting for an exit from coal and nuclear energy, with Germany debating a plan to stop the coal by 2038. KfW has offered $16 billion in loans to clean energy, trailing solely the European Investment Bank in Europe, based on BloombergNEF.

Some specialists argue that energy security could be maintained by way of a combination of a limited variety of gas-fired stations and cross-border power lines generally known as interconnectors, in addition to by shifting demand from peak durations and using energy storage. However, a few of these solutions may not be prepared on time, based on Brehler.

Europe’s gas sector has not attracted a lot of funding in recent years as an expected alliance between renewable energy sources and gas didn’t materialize, based on Gergely Molnar, a gas analyst in Europe on the International Energy Agency. That left the fleet of plants utilizing the fuel underutilized.