– “Poland is now on the verge of a new reality — the imports of most raw materials from Russia dropped to zero. We managed to avert the risk of energy blackmail Russia played many times before”, said Jakub Kupecki, Director of the Institute of Power Engineering, during the discussion, “Is Energy Independence Possible Today?”.
It was made possible thanks to previously expanded infrastructure for the supply diversification. Still, energy prices increased. Other countries’ stories are similar.
– “Our infrastructure left us entirely reliant on Russian gas, with the national monopoly supplier under the control of Gazprom. To make the situation even worse, Gazprom asserted a debt of nearly a billion dollars”, said Sergiu Tofilat, an energy analyst from Moldova. Moldova stopped buying Russian gas about a year ago thanks to the reversed flow in the so-called Trans-Balkan pipeline.
He admitted it was a costly revolution for individuals with gas prices about six times higher than before the war. The Moldovan government subsidises consumers at 2.5% of the GDP but cannot cover all the costs. – “It is hard, but that is the price of energy independence”, commented Sergiu Tofilat.
François Barthélémy, a Director at the French Gas Association, also admitted that national energy outputs are insufficient and energy autarky is critical there as well. – “We employ a two-pronged approach. Regarding the demand, we strive to limit energy consumption”, said F. Barthélémy. When it comes to the supply, France aims at diversifying suppliers through the construction of LNG terminals, which account for about half of gas imports today.
