Securing that energy supply is vital. It ensures our homes are heated – or air-conditioned – that we can phone, use lights and computers and that our hospitals, public transport and other essential services, like water distribution, function.

Energy security

• Countries like Russia and Canada, with surplus energy, are energy secure.
• Some countries produce a lot of energy and some produce very little.
• The largest producers of energy are Russia, China and the United States.

3.1 European energy security challenges

• 1 Low contribution of European Union countries in proven reserves and global production.
• 2 The wide gap between domestic production and consumption.
• 3 Depending on limited number of suppliers.
• 4 Environmental concerns due to heavy use of polluting energy resources.

Last updated. 2 Dec 2019. The IEA defines energy security as the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price. Energy security has many aspects: long-term energy security mainly deals with timely investments to supply energy in line with economic developments and environmental needs.

In 2019, the energy mix in the EU, meaning the range of energy sources available, was mainly made up by five different sources: Petroleum products (including crude oil) (36 %), natural gas (22 %), renewable energy (15 %), nuclear energy and solid fossil fuels (both 13 %).

As mentioned in the part dealing with energy imports, the EU mainly depends on Russia for imports of crude oil, natural gas and solid fuels, followed by Norway for crude oil and natural gas.

Energy security is about making sure consumers can access the energy they need at prices that are not excessively volatile. The UK has experienced strong energy security from a combination of its liberalised energy markets, firm regulation and extensive North Sea resources.

The main reasons were obstacles from Bulgaria and the EU, the 2014 Crimean crisis, and the imposition of European sanctions on Russia. Turkey is located between major energy producers and consumers and could become a transit state carrying hydrocarbons from the Middle East and the Caucasus to Europe.

The ability of a nation to secure sufficient, affordable and consistent energy supplies for its domestic, industrial, transport and military requirements is termed Energy Security. It means that current and future energy needs have a high probability of being met, irrespective of economic or political instability.

The share of renewable energy in energy consumption increased continuously between 2004 and 2019, from 9.6 % to 19.7 %. The Europe 2020 target is 20 % by 2020 and the Europe 2030 target is 32 % by 2030.

Production of primary energy by fuel type, EU, 2009-2019 Indeed, more than half (60.7 %) of the EU’s gross available energy in 2019 came from imported sources.

In 2019, almost two thirds of the extra-EU’s crude oil imports came from Russia (27 %), Iraq (9 %), Nigeria and Saudi Arabia (both 8 %) and Kazakhstan and Norway (both 7 %).