As Europe faces the reality of its dependence on fossil fuels, the war against Iran has unexpectedly ignited a race for renewable energy. <\/p>\n
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Oil and gas prices have fallen sharply in recent weeks due to Iran’s stranglehold on the 39km-long Strait of Hormuz, which carries about 20% of the world’s oil supplies. <\/p>\n
Analysts warn that even if the war ends, soaring pump and utility costs will not return immediately. The result is a surge in renewable energy, with many Europeans scrambling to buy green technologies such as electric vehicles (EVs), heat pumps and plug-in solar systems. <\/p>\n
Renewable energy has been touted as a silver bullet against the recent fossil fuel shock, but its efficiency is being tested by the very problem it seeks to stop: climate change.<\/p>\n
Can renewable energy survive climate change?<\/h2>\n
According to the United Nations, each warmer global climate will lead to “rapidly escalating hazards” such as more intense heat waves, heavy rains, and other extreme weather events, increasing risks to human health and ecosystems. <\/p>\n
Renewable energy investor Thomas Balogun told Euronews Earth that this has become one of the most “significant operational and strategic challenges” facing renewable energy systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cRenewable energy sources play a central role in reducing carbon emissions and combating climate change, but they are inherently dependent on environmental conditions,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Balogun argues that as heat-trapping gases continue to raise temperatures and weather patterns become more erratic, the reliability, efficiency and resilience of the transition to green energy is being pushed to breaking point.<\/p>\n
The \u201cparadox\u201d of solar heat<\/h2>\n
Using sunlight for energy could save Europe more than \u20ac3 billion in March alone, and if gas prices remain high, the continent could save a staggering \u20ac67.5 billion by the end of the year, according to new analysis by SolarPower Europe.<\/p>\n
However, 2026 is set to be the hottest year on record, and predictions that El Ni\u00f1o could develop later this year could make the situation even worse. While rising temperatures may seem to encourage solar power generation, extreme heat can actually reduce efficiency and increase stress on the power grid.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a common misconception that more sunlight always equals more electricity,\u201d Ioanna Vergini, founder of wfy24.com, a platform that analyzes weather data and climate change trends, told Euronews Earth. <\/p>\n
“Photovoltaic (PV) cells are semiconductors, and like any electronic device, their efficiency decreases as temperature increases.”<\/p>\n
For every temperature above 25\u00b0C, the efficiency of solar panels decreases by approximately 0.4 to 0.5 percent.<\/p>\n
Last summer, when a sweltering heat wave gripped much of Spain and Greece, local solar farms experienced a “significant drop in output,” just as demand for air conditioning was at its peak. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe tracked cases where panel surface temperatures reached 65\u00b0C and theoretical capacity decreased by nearly 20%,\u201d says Vergini.<\/p>\n
Last year, a heat wave gripped large swaths of Europe, including normally cool Finland, which endured temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius for three consecutive weeks. Further south, Europeans suffered temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, pushing dozens of countries into drought.<\/p>\n
Researchers from Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine studied 754 European cities and found that climate change will cause summer temperatures in 2025 to rise by an average of 3.6 degrees Celsius.<\/p>\n
The \u201csweet spot\u201d of wind turbines<\/h2>\n
Stormy weather is ideal for wind energy and helped the UK break new renewable energy records this year. On March 26, wind power generation in the UK hit a new high of 23,880 megawatts, enough to power around 23 million homes. <\/p>\n
However, when wind speeds are too high, power grids are often filled with more green energy than is actually needed. <\/p>\n
According to British energy company Octopus Energy, this will create “rush-hour grid traffic” and prevent energy from getting to where it is needed.<\/p>\n
As a result, wind turbines are often turned off (a process known as curtailment) and gas plants are paid to switch them back on. This cost the UK a staggering \u00a31.47 billion (about \u20ac1.78 billion) last year.<\/p>\n
In Germany, compensation costs for renewable energy cuts will reach \u20ac435 million in 2025, and in several EU countries, such as Spain and France, reduction rates rose to record levels in the first nine months of last year.<\/p>\n
To overcome this costly problem, the UK government recently announced plans to provide homeowners with discounted or free electricity if the grid becomes overwhelmed with green energy.<\/p>\n
High winds can also cause turbines to shut down, unrelated to government-mandated closures. <\/p>\n
“Wind turbines have a ‘sweet spot’: when wind speeds exceed about 90km\/h, the turbine goes into ‘survival mode’ and flaps its blades to stop to prevent structural damage,” Vergini explains.<\/p>\n
During the Ciaran storm in late 2023, large offshore wind farms in the UK and France were forced to close despite “perfect” wind conditions on paper. This led to a sudden reliance on gas speaker plants to fill the gap.<\/p>\n
Previously, the blades of an Australian wind turbine snapped in half in a storm just six months after it was installed. <\/p>\n
That’s why operators around the world are adapting wind turbines to withstand higher wind speeds, especially in areas prone to hurricanes and tropical cyclones. <\/p>\n
In 2023, Mingyang Smart Energy will install “typhoon-resistant” wind turbines in the South China Sea, which will be able to withstand wind speeds of 215 kilometers per hour for 10 minutes. <\/p>\n
But climate projections show a slight increase in the number and intensity of winter storms, potentially putting many of Europe’s turbines at risk of failure. <\/p>\n