For months now, the energy crisis has been a part of the everyday life in Europe. Everybody is talking about heating costs, the rise in the price of liquid fuel and the dramatic increase in the price of electricity. As a result, the energy industry has finally attracted the attention it has longed for – but not in the way it had hoped. Even though the price is currently painfully high, in the big picture, that is a minor issue.
For a long time now, the green transition and emissions reduction have been on the agenda of the European Union, but there have been no tangible solutions. Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine pushed the EU to find quick and large-scale solutions for withdrawing from Russian fossil energy. In the spring, the EU adopted several new regulations as part of the RePower EU plan, and the work is still ongoing. The great challenge is to find a model that will work for all parties in the value chain, which requires an in-depth understanding of the industry.
The green transition is also supported in Finland: earlier this month, the government made a decision to support investments that increase our self-sufficiency and reduce our dependency on fossil energy.
The energy market has changed permanently, and there is no going back. This is an ideal time for new investments as the demand for innovations and solutions supporting the green transition has never been higher. Anything that promotes zero-emission and supports energy self-sufficiency is now desirable and valuable.
The energy crisis has taught us two things: we cannot afford to postpone the green transition any further and the transition must be made by promoting self-sufficiency. We now expect the decision makers to have the courage to make major decisions and the determination to reform the regulation on the energy sector. At the same time, we also expect them to account for our particular national characteristics and the entire value chain and understand how their decisions impact on all of us.
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