Leonhard Birnbaum, chief executive of Germany’s Eon, has warned against a false sense of security regarding the European energy crisis, saying that the risk will continue throughout the next year, and that without “finally getting serious” on clearing obstacles for the energy transition, the desired progress will not materialise. Although wholesale natural gas prices have fallen recently, they are still “at levels we would’ve considered unthinkable just a few years ago” and continue to be volatile.

Luck with weather also played a significant part in Europe’s navigation of the last winter, and such luck could easily run out over the coming year. On the subject of the energy transition, which Germany and Europe more generally wishes to hasten in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Mr Birnbaum highlighted the difficulty in obtaining permits to build new infrastructure. In parts of Germany, the chief executive said, the company needs hundreds of permits, but has not been able to secure “a single one” in recent years, with the bureaucracy being slow and laborious.

“We can’t resolve that by the local area hiring two people to deal with that. We need a totally different approach here when it comes to permitting otherwise I can tell you now, we will fail with the enlargement of the infrastructure.” Mr Birnbaum is not alone in highlighting the permitting issue, with it being a frustration in many countries trying to rapidly deploy new infrastructure. Although the Financial Times’ coverage of Mr Birnbaum’s comments does not include actions he suggests should be pursued to help navigate the next year (other than permitting), one imagines he would advocate for continued vigilance and support on the part of policymakers and a continued focus on efficiencies by industry, two of the other factors which helped Europe through the previous winter.