Poderá a rede energética europeia sobreviver à guerra, às intempéries e aos ciberataques?

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Poderá a rede energética europeia sobreviver à guerra, às intempéries e aos ciberataques?

Kristian Ruby, da Eurelectric, explica-nos a razão pela qual a Europa tem de modernizar as redes de energia de forma a conseguir resistir a condições meteorológicas extremas, a ataques cibernéticos cada vez mais frequentes e a ameaças geopolíticas num futuro cada vez mais eletrificado.

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LEIA MAIS : http://pt.euronews.com/2025/07/29/podera-a-rede-energetica-europeia-sobreviver-a-guerra-as-intemperies-e-aos-ciberataques

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00:00Europe is in a fairly good spot compared to the rest of the world.

00:03If we look towards the U.S., the grids are in a significantly worse state.

00:08Same in other parts of the world.

00:10That said, we are entering a new era where the amount of threats and challenges

00:16for running stable electricity grids are on the rise.

00:30Hello, and a very warm welcome to Energy Frontiers, our monthly series exploring the global energy

00:37landscape from right here in Baku, Azerbaijan.

00:40This month, we're asking how do we build resilient networks for the future as electrical grids,

00:46transmission lines, oil and gas pipelines, ports and other energy installations are increasingly

00:51coming under threat with hazards ranging from cyber to physical attacks to damage from extreme

00:58weather.

00:59We'll be putting all of these questions and more to Christian Ruby, the Secretary General

01:03of Euroelectric.

01:04But first, here's a quick look at where we stand today.

01:09Renewables will dominate Europe's electricity generation by 2050, so the need for more flexible,

01:16decentralised and secure infrastructure is urgent.

01:19At the same time, cyber attacks on Europe's energy sector have surged, threatening the stability

01:25and resilience of critical systems.

01:27EUROELECTRIC, the Federation of Europe's electricity industry, also points to risks linked to climate

01:34change.

01:35It says weather damage to ageing grids has risen exponentially in recent years, underscoring

01:41the vulnerability of existing infrastructure.

01:44It also suggests that EU countries and Norway must invest around 67 billion euros per year until

01:522050 to upgrade and future-proof their grids through the energy transition.

01:58I'm delighted to say that joining me now from the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, is Christian Ruby,

02:06the Secretary General of Euroelectric.

02:08Christian, it's great to see you.

02:10Thank you for being here today.

02:12Great to see you.

02:13Christian, let me start by asking you about the resilience of Europe's electricity grid.

02:18When you strip away the political rhetoric and you look at the robustness, the preparedness

02:23of the power networks, how protected are they from simultaneous risks?

02:27So the answer is that Europe is in a fairly good spot compared to the rest of the world.

02:33If we look towards the US, the grids are in a significantly worse state.

02:38Same in other parts of the world.

02:40That said, we are entering a new era where the amount of threats and challenges for running

02:47stable electricity grids are on the rise.

02:52We have sabotage, we have hot wars, we have cyber attacks, and we have extreme weather.

02:57This is all making it much more difficult to deliver electricity reliably.

03:02That said, there are regions where the infrastructure is more robust.

03:06For instance, in the Nordics, this is also a region that is more interconnected than the others.

03:12You advocate for decentralization and greater flexibility.

03:16But some critics might say that that simply shifts the risks from central grids to millions

03:21of poorly regulated local ones.

03:23The technological development is basically putting us in a situation where a lot of things

03:29are decentralizing by themselves.

03:31We have millions of new generation sites entering the grid, and there's no stopping that,

03:38because this is the most cheap and most available technology.

03:42What we need to do as system operators is to make sure that we can handle such a situation reliably.

03:50This new or decentralized system comes with advantages.

03:54It is more resilient, and we've seen, for instance, in Ukraine that it is easier to bomb a centralized

04:03power plant rather than a whole bunch of decentralized solar installations.

04:08So there are also upsides when it comes to the resiliency of a more decentralized system.

04:13But the challenge we have in Europe is to make sure that this very decentralized system also operates

04:20in a reliable way. And this is where the centralized machines come in to make sure that there is

04:26system stability and that there is backup if the sun goes away or the wind is not available.

04:33Would you say that the war in Ukraine has permanently shifted energy mindsets,

04:37not least in terms of how we protect our energy networks?

04:40I was in Ukraine earlier this year to visit a power plant that had been bombed more than 10 times

04:45throughout the three years of war. And it was just amazing to see exactly what that means to work

04:53at a plant that is actively being targeted in a war situation. The roof was missing.

04:59Walls and windows have been blown out. Pylons were wrought in grotesque shapes.

05:04It's really massive destruction at this site. And I don't think that this level of destruction

05:11has really dawned on European operators. But I do think that there is a need to understand that

05:17we have to have a level of preparedness. We need to move into a different type of operation when it

05:25comes to planning, exercising and having direct contact to the authorities. We are in a different

05:33space than we used to. And we do see that in these war situations, civil infrastructure is being

05:40targeted just because it's so important for society and its ability to defend itself.

05:46Tell me more about the risk of replacing one dependency with another as we move increasingly

05:49away, we hope, from fossil fuels. Are we not looking to be more dependent on rare earths,

05:55lithium, cobalt, for example?

05:57This is certainly something we need to be aware of. And this is also why that we shouldn't

06:02walk into a single technology path for the energy transition. That said, I think it's important to

06:07underline that there are a number of very strong European supply chains in the electricity space.

06:15We have a strong wind industry in Europe. We are very good at producing gas turbines. We have a lot

06:22of manufacturing sites for grid equipment, transformers, cables, et cetera, et cetera. And we also have a

06:29nuclear industry. So there are a number of European industries that can gain directly from this.

06:35And then we need to gauge carefully the other stuff we import so that we don't replace

06:41one dependency with another.

06:45Lastly, Christian, if you had just one minute to meet and brief negotiators and policymakers

06:50on the ground in Brazil at COP30, what would you urge them to prioritize?

06:55It's a good question. I think there's some very interesting developments in the climate negotiations

07:02where for the first time, the focus begins to shift on clean energy infrastructure, such as

07:08renewables as grids, et cetera, et cetera. That's a very welcome development. The other thing where we

07:14could do more is our interconnectors with our neighbors. If we look at Northern Africa, there's a potential

07:22for clean energy that we could harness more. If we look towards Turkey, for instance,

07:28or other neighbors, there is a potential to work more together and trade energy more than we're doing

07:36today. That's all we have time for, Christian. But thank you so much for joining me from Bulgaria.

07:41Thank you. Pleasure to be here.

07:43It just also remains for me to thank you, our global audience, for joining me here for this broadcast of

07:48Energy Frontiers from Baku in Azerbaijan. I'll see you again next time. Until then, take care and goodbye.

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