Winter is coming
and Europe may run out of gas. Experts say gas stores in industries could fall
to zero if the cold weather continues. As temperatures fall, power prices are
on the rise and there isn’t really an immediate fix to the power and natural
gas crunch. The only thing that could turn the tide is if European industry
chooses to destroy demand owing to high natural gas prices.

This European winter
is going to be colder than usual and countries don’t seem prepared to tackle
the burgeoning shortages. Russia is currently sending gas to Europe in pipelines
but hasn’t been able to substantially shore up supply due to problems with the Nord
Stream-2 project.

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Dependence on
Russia

The Nord Stream-2
project is a Russian pipeline that surpasses Ukraine and several European
countries and the United States believe that the execution of the project would
make Europe overdependent on Russia for its energy needs. The pipeline ends in
Germany and the German government said Monday that it is continuing discussions
with Russia with regard to the pipeline.

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In absence of the
Nord Stream-2 pipeline, the end of Europe’s energy crisis remains uncertain.
Power prices in Europe could even surpass the record levels they touched in
October.

Demand-side
management

Analysts are of
the opinion that the only viable option available to Europe amid the crisis is
to manage the demand side of gas supply. A number of energy-intensive
industries in Europe use a lot of natural gas for production of fertilizer,
ammonia and steelworks. However, rising natural gas prices have made production
unprofitable.

If these
industries either choose to or are directed to cut down on operations in the
coming months, Europe may find a leeway to tide through the winter.

Brace for
outages

Soaring gas and
electricity prices have already put consumers in a quandary. Additionally, the
dearth of natural gas may lead to power outages amid the cold winter. A very cold
or still winter may exacerbate the supply shortage especially in northern
Europe which depends partially on wind energy for its power supply.