Due to the soaring oil prices caused by the war between Russia and Ukraine, the market expects that Europe will try to get rid of the dependence on fossil fuels, expand the use of green energy technologies, and diversify the energy structure, driving the shares of renewable energy-related ETFs to rise sharply. On February 28, shares of the Invesco Solar ETF surged 7.6%, and the overall gain in February was 9.15%.
Deepa Venkateswaran, senior analyst at Bernstein Autonomous LLP, told Bloomberg that European countries have realized that they have to get rid of their dependence on Russian oil and gas, and one of the ways to achieve this goal is to use renewable energy. Now it is not only about net zero carbon emissions, but also about European energy security.
90% of the EU’s energy comes from Russia and Norway
The report pointed out that the Russian-Ukrainian war will prompt the EU to actively increase the share of renewable energy in power generation. Last week, the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturers collectively petitioned European Commission President von der Leyen, urging the EU to take more aggressive action to simplify the approval process for new wind farms.
“ETF Trends” reported that nearly 90% of the EU’s energy comes from imports, mainly from Russia and Norway. European gas prices have skyrocketed following a series of sanctions imposed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. One-third of Europe’s natural gas is supplied by Russia and relies on pipelines through Ukraine.
Over the years, the United States has been warning that Russia’s expansion of direct gas supply to Europe will endanger Europe’s energy security. Russia may use energy supply as a lever to contain Europe.
“More sanctions could trigger Russian retaliation that could disrupt Western Europe’s energy imports,” Neil Shearing, chief economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a note.
