Will energy prices end up going down? After the surge in recent months, the question remains unresolved. Eco guest of franceinfo, Fatih Birol, director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), believes that “this winter will be a real challenge“, although, according to him,”once the winter has passed (…), we may see a slowdown in this surge in prices “.
For the director of the AIE, “there is enough oil and gas in the producing countries, but these countries, like Russia and Saudi Arabia, keep their reserves, do not put them on the market and create tensions in the market. It drives up the prices“. Fatih Birol hopes that production will rise in the United States at the beginning of next year.”slow things down“.
In Germany, the new SPD-Greens-Liberals coalition has just announced that the country will exit coal earlier than expected: in 2030 instead of 2038. The director of the International Energy Agency welcomes the German decision to accelerate the output of coal: “Coal is the biggest problem today.” But this exit will be combined with the German withdrawal from nuclear power, and Fatih Birol fears that the leading European economy will end up weakened: “This will place a burden on the German electricity system.”
It will be difficult for the new German government to secure the energy supply and at the same time avoid too much pressure on prices.
Fatih Birol, Director of the International Energy Agencyon franceinfo
France makes another choice. Emmanuel Macron recently announced a new nuclear program, in parallel with new renewable energies. “Keeping nuclear is the right decision“, according to Fatih Birol. More generally, the boss of the IEA believes that”the solution is to continue pushing for clean options for electricity, to reduce our dependence on oil and gas: no more solar, no more wind, no more nuclear power, this is the solution to the problem we are facing. are facing!“
Fatih Birol also sends a message to investors: “The future of energy must be clean. Those who invest in fossil fuel may regret it in the future and lose money. Those who invest in clean energy sources are likely to make money in the future“.