EU works to wire around a Russian energy cut off

Times:

A supergrid of power supplies to protect Europe’s energy from the threat of a Russian stranglehold will be announced today.

The building blocks of the proposed supergrid would be new cables linking North Sea wind farms, and a network patching together the disparate electricity grids of the Baltic region and the countries bordering the Mediterranean, according to a blueprint drawn up by the European Commission and seen by The Times.

EU states will also be asked to pay for at least two ambitious gas pipelines to bring in supplies from Central Asia and Africa. The plans also call for a Community Gas Ring, or a network allowing EU countries to share supplies if Russia turns off the taps.

Analysts estimate the two projects will cost billions of pounds.

The EU Energy Security Plan notes that Europe imports 61 per cent of its gas, a figure projected to rise to 73 per cent by 2020. Russia sells about two-fifths of the total, including the entire supply of several countries.

The proposals come a day before an EU summit meeting with Russia in France, which is designed to reopen talks on a pact covering economic and energy links after the crisis in relations caused by the war in Georgia in the summer.

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It is never a good idea to be dependent on a bully. Russia's Putin has certainly given the Europeans reasons to doubt how dependable Russia will be as a supplier. The routes through Central Asia will still be vulnerable to Russia's military if they determine to cut off Europe.