European energy market seen centering on natural gas
Reuters World News Service, Long Beach, June 15
Natural gas will come to dominate Europe's
electricity market as the industry is opened to
competition, an industry consultant said Monday.
"Gas will be king," Gill Rider, global managing
partner at Andersen Consulting, said at an Edison
Electric Institute conference. She estimated
that Europe will eventually rely on gas for 40
percent of its power generation, up from
10-15 percent today. The trend will be
driven by the region's access to natural gas
pipelines from northern Africa and central
Europe, as well as by competition, Rider said.
In February, the European Energy Initiative
was passed, calling for free cross-border
electric power competition throughout the
European Union by 2008. Rider said the shift
will create a single European energy network,
encompassing both electricity and gas. "The
use of gas will allow a move toward local
generation," she said. "This will allow utilities
to bypass the grid. " Open competition will
clear the way for power plant operators to
connect directly to gas pipelines, Rider
predicted. "The availability of gas pipelines
will become as important, or more important,
than wires," she said.
Deena Beasley, Los Angeles bureau (213) 955 6750)) REUTERS |
