Despite Russia slashing gas deliveries this year, Europe has averted a severe shortage and started the winter with brimming gas storage tanks – thanks to EU emergency measures to fill storage and a lucky spell of mild weather.
Yet next year could be an even tougher test than the energy crisis that this year hiked fuel bills for European households and forced industries to temporarily shut down.
If Russia cuts the small share of gas it still supplies to Europe and China’s gas demand rebounds from lockdown-induced lows, the EU could face a gas shortfall of 27 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2023, the IEA said.
The IEA said the shortage could be averted through saving energy, renovating gas-guzzling buildings, replacing fossil fuel-based heating with heat pumps, as well as massively expanding renewable energy.