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Being a European (Dutchman living in Sweden) I have the privilege of speaking from my lived experience (right?) so... It is not as if there were no warning sign

Being a European (Dutchman living in Sweden) I have the privilege of speaking from my lived experience (right?) so... It is not as if there were no warning signs, nor warnings. No, this is really the effect of a myopic view on energy production and consumption pushed mostly by the "green" parties, movement and lobby. The main culprit here is Germany with their "green" politicians insisting on closing nuclear power plants as if this were some religious edict but many other European countries as well as the EU are to blame for this lack of insight.

hef19898 4y ago
Gas accounts for 15% of Germanies electricity production, it was a consevative government, CDU-led, that implemented the last nuclear exit plans. It is the Greens that kept nuclear plants running until next year. It is the Greens that push for more military aid for Ukraine, it is a Green Minister who is getting gas reservoirs filled up faster than planned. As another commenter pointed out, gas prices are back to pre war levels by now. Context matters, nothing haooens in a vacuum.
- the_third_wave 4y ago
  The problem in Germany is not just the reliance on natural gas but the removal of the reliable base load due to policy - nuclear and coal - and now out of necessity - natural gas. Wind and solar can not provide the base load without sufficient storage which, as of yet, is unavailable. This has left Germany without a reliable base load infrastructure and with that dependent on imports plus the remaining base load infrastructure.
  - hef19898 4y ago
    When was the last blackout in Germany that was not caused by a natural disaster? I cannot remember any in the last decades. And electricity for industrial customers was historically among the lower ones in Europe, consumer pruces are more expensive due to the way Germany, again implemented by conservative governments, financed the build out of renewables. And despite all the issues in thr last months, there were no blackouts, gas kept coming in and industry carried on.
    - the_third_wave 4y ago
      That there have been few blackouts in the past - with natural gas aplenty and more nuclear power stations online, fewer electric cars demanding to be charged, fewer data centres which each are good for half the output of a modestly sized power station - does not mean much for the current or direct future situation. Here's the differences, in case I need to spell it out: - the relative dearth of natural gas does not just affect Germany... - ...it also affects countries around Germany which use natural gas for power generation... - ...which means less power is available for export by those countries to Germany... - ...just at the start of winter which is the season when electrical power demand peaks. I live in Sweden where blackouts only occurred due to natural disasters, mostly storms taking out local power distribution infrastructure. Things have changed here, both due to the closure of half the nuclear capacity which has now been acknowledged by the CEO of the state-owned backbone power distributor "Svenska Kraftnät" to be the main cause of the problems middle and southern Sweden experiences [1] as well as due to the larger demands placed on export capacity due to the problems in Germany and elsewhere. There are warnings for potential blackouts here as well which hitherto was something unthinkable given the overcapacity Sweden normally has. [1]https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/svenska-kraftnat-i-varsta-fall-kopplar-vi-ifran-elen https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/svenska-kraftnat-i-varsta-f...
      - hef19898 4y ago
        Germany sid cause any electricity issues, those were caused by the fact that for a variety of reasons, France became a net importer this summer. That's gonna change as soon as river carry more and cooler water again and the French nuclear reactors come online again after maintenance.

hef19898 4y ago

Gas accounts for 15% of Germanies electricity production, it was a consevative government, CDU-led, that implemented the last nuclear exit plans. It is the Greens that kept nuclear plants running until next year. It is the Greens that push for more military aid for Ukraine, it is a Green Minister who is getting gas reservoirs filled up faster than planned. As another commenter pointed out, gas prices are back to pre war levels by now. Context matters, nothing haooens in a vacuum.

the_third_wave 4y ago
The problem in Germany is not just the reliance on natural gas but the removal of the reliable base load due to policy - nuclear and coal - and now out of necessity - natural gas. Wind and solar can not provide the base load without sufficient storage which, as of yet, is unavailable. This has left Germany without a reliable base load infrastructure and with that dependent on imports plus the remaining base load infrastructure.
- hef19898 4y ago
  When was the last blackout in Germany that was not caused by a natural disaster? I cannot remember any in the last decades. And electricity for industrial customers was historically among the lower ones in Europe, consumer pruces are more expensive due to the way Germany, again implemented by conservative governments, financed the build out of renewables. And despite all the issues in thr last months, there were no blackouts, gas kept coming in and industry carried on.
  - the_third_wave 4y ago
    That there have been few blackouts in the past - with natural gas aplenty and more nuclear power stations online, fewer electric cars demanding to be charged, fewer data centres which each are good for half the output of a modestly sized power station - does not mean much for the current or direct future situation. Here's the differences, in case I need to spell it out: - the relative dearth of natural gas does not just affect Germany... - ...it also affects countries around Germany which use natural gas for power generation... - ...which means less power is available for export by those countries to Germany... - ...just at the start of winter which is the season when electrical power demand peaks. I live in Sweden where blackouts only occurred due to natural disasters, mostly storms taking out local power distribution infrastructure. Things have changed here, both due to the closure of half the nuclear capacity which has now been acknowledged by the CEO of the state-owned backbone power distributor "Svenska Kraftnät" to be the main cause of the problems middle and southern Sweden experiences [1] as well as due to the larger demands placed on export capacity due to the problems in Germany and elsewhere. There are warnings for potential blackouts here as well which hitherto was something unthinkable given the overcapacity Sweden normally has. [1]https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/svenska-kraftnat-i-varsta-fall-kopplar-vi-ifran-elen https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/svenska-kraftnat-i-varsta-f...
    - hef19898 4y ago
      Germany sid cause any electricity issues, those were caused by the fact that for a variety of reasons, France became a net importer this summer. That's gonna change as soon as river carry more and cooler water again and the French nuclear reactors come online again after maintenance.