South European Heatwaves and Their Impacts on the Power System in 2022

Abstract

Unprecedented heatwaves accompanying severe droughts hit South Europe in May‒July 2022. From the interdisciplinary perspective, this study revealed that the extreme climate events can intensify European energy crisis through pushing up electricity demand and limiting renewable energy supply that makes up more than one-third of gross electricity consumption in the European Union (EU). The record-high electricity demand over South Europe in May‒July was closely associated with the long-lasting extreme heatwaves. On the other hand, the anomalous high-pressure system over Europe contributed to the severe heatwaves and the shortage of renewable power generation, for instance, through affecting the wind speed. The wind power generation over South Europe was reduced by the anomalous anticyclone which weakened low-tropospheric prevailing northwesterly wind. The results indicate a potential intensive conflict between the increasing power demand and the decreasing renewable power generation in Europe that are induced simultaneously by the extreme heatwaves. Therefore, it is suggested that the energy sectors' resilience to extreme climate events should be well built as the EU sets to significantly increase the renewable energy target to meet the goal of climate-neutral by 2050.