Greater pressure will be placed on Europe when its share of electricity generation severely decreases and its gas share increases, according to Keith Martin, chief commercial officer and board member of Germany energy company Uniper on Wednesday.
Martin, in comments during the European Gas Conference in Austria's Vienna, said that although there is an increase in Europe's gas imports and its demand, it is hampered by decreasing domestic production.
He cautioned on an over reliance on coal to meet Europe's needs with upcoming restrictive regulations as well as its effects with increased carbon emissions. As an alternative, he advocated for ambitious decarbonization through gas usage.
'We will see a transition period in which natural gas, hydropower and wind energy's share in the gross electricity generation in Europe will increase,' he said.
He added that nuclear energy’s share would decrease and coal would also substantially decline from around 847 terawatt-hours of electricity generation in 2015 to 231 terawatt-hours by 2045.
LNG, he said is an increasing trend that Uniper has also invested in.
'LNG supplies enable global decarbonization of power generation. Global LNG trade growth between 2014 and 2020 will increase by 47 percent,' he predicted.
By Murat Temizer in Vienna
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr