The coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, is not only a global public health emergency but impacts the renewable energy sector as well, resulting in plummeting oil prices and production declines.
The considerable disruption caused by Covid19 has emphasized how many societies depend on electricity. Many people are quarantined to their homes, resorting to homeworking, e-commerce sites to shop their needs, and binge-watching on video platforms to find entertainment. A reliable electricity supply supports all of these services, as well as powering the things that we use in our daily lives.
In many countries now, electricity is essential for running the ventilators and other medical equipment in hospitals, treating the increasing numbers of infected of the coronavirus. In such an anxious and quickly unfolding situation, electricity guarantees up-to-date information about important information between governments and citizens, and between doctors and patients.
It only reminds us that the coronavirus crisis tells us that electricity plays an essential role in our lives.
As this pandemic creates a world disturbance, most of us show off being reliant on digital technology to get on with day-to-day life, showing a global demand for electricity. Therefore, electricity security is the basis of prosperity and stability – but ensuring that enough supply requires action from governments.
How significant or transformative any of these changes are for the power sector, or climate efforts will depend upon the latest course of Covid19.
Let’s check how COVID-19 Impacts on power industry
Source: https://www.power-technology.com/features/impact-covid-19-power-sector/
The power industry is among the sectors affected by the pandemic. Power Technology spoke to major stakeholders about Covid-19’s impact on generation and supply.
According to energy industry body Independent Commodity Intelligence Services, nuclear power availability in the EU is expected to remain consistent as many countries, including the UK and Germany, have put in place safety measures to guarantee the continuation of operations.
Digital energy solutions provider Lumenaza’s CEO Christian Chudoba told Power Technology: “The German energy industry is coping well, but we see a decline in industrial production.
“This doesn’t affect Lumenaza per se or other companies providing digital energy solutions. We are already used to working remotely, and we keep on developing new solutions.”
French grid operator RTE expects nuclear availability to stay 3.6GW below the 2015 to 2019 average as well predicting a national drop in nuclear demand. These are symptoms of a bigger problem Covid-19 presents to the nuclear sector, said energy and nuclear policy independent analyst Mycle Schneider.
Schneider said: “Covid-19 constitutes an unprecedented threat on sensitive strategic infrastructure, above all the power sector. The largest nuclear operator in the world, French state controlled EDF, announced as early as 10 March 2020 that three of its employees at nuclear facilities had tested positive.
Also, one of those areas of the economy that is badly hit with the pandemic is the oil business. The COVID-19 outbreak is happening at a time when the oil market is already weak and prices are under pressure.
How Covid19 affect the oil market?
Travel restrictions- Travel and tourism are likely to be the industries most affected by the outbreak. It means a decrease in jet fuel prices much higher than any decline in the price of gasoline. Also, the supply chains slow, and industrial activity weakens as companies send their workers home, which means less oil is being used and produced.
The stock market response to the effect of the coronavirus on the global economy creates a forecast of global oil demand over the long-term. As a more general market view about the health of the global economy declines, so do forecasts about the future oil demand curve, indicating flight away from oil and energy stocks and more drawing down prices.
In summary
Covid19 crisis highlights the significant value of electricity infrastructure and know-how, which are supporting the response to the coronavirus pandemic. It also exhibits some essential insights about the future of electricity, and what policymakers need to do to ensure that tomorrow’s systems remain reliable even as the rise of clean energy technologies transforms them. As of now, most of the governments are pinned on the immediate public health emergency due to Covid19, but they have to continue watchful on electricity security and guard the crucial assets between the extreme volatility in markets. In these times of crisis, we can manage without many things, but we can’t survive without electricity.
Sources:
https://www.power-technology.com/features/impact-covid-19-power-sector/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2020/03/16/covid-19s-impact-on-tech-spending-this-year/#3ec57bf32d67
https://www.bruegel.org/2020/03/covid-19-crisis-electricity-demand-as-a-real-time-indicator/
See also:
Renewable Energy Implementation Support
Renewable Energy Maintenance Support
Biogas Energy Solutions
Renewable Energy Services
Renewable Energy Solutions
