Securing Europe’s Energy Future Through Renewables

^{Giorgia Epicoco, Director of Institutional Affairs and Public Policies, Zelestra Italia}

One fact should frame the debate on European energy security: in 2024, the Union spent over €420 billion on importing fossil fuels.

Even today, more than half of the energy consumed in Europe is imported. This means that an essential component of our economy — the price of energy — is determined by independent variables: geopolitical issues, decisions by third countries, tensions along trade routes. International tensions are no longer a remote matter, because they have entered directly into the bills of families and businesses. A few days of uncertainties are enough to generate billions of euros in additional costs.

This vulnerability has become evident especially in recent years. According to estimates, the extra cost for fossil imports this year has already exceeded 6 billion euros — a cost that would have soared without the fundamental contribution of renewables.

In countries such as Italy, this exposure is even more marked. The price of electricity remains strongly linked to gas: about 97% of the wholesale price formation is related to gas and, for most of the hours of use, is determined by thermoelectric plants. This type of structure amplifies any external shock.

Yet the issue of energy independence is not new. On the contrary, it is almost the common thread of European construction: from the integration of coal and nuclear power in the post-war period, to the diversification policies following the oil crises, to the single energy market and, more recently, to the Green Deal and REPowerEU. The direction has been clear for decades: what has been missing so far has been speed.

Beyond diversification

For a long time, a European response was to diversify suppliers. An understandable strategy, of course, but one that today shows all its limits.

Diversification does not mean eliminating dependence, but rather redistributing it: if the system remains based on fossil fuels, vulnerability remains intact. Changing suppliers does not change exposure to price volatility and geopolitical shocks. Energy security, today, can no longer be defined only as the ability to access different sources, but must be understood as the ability to structurally reduce the weight of imports.

Renewables as a strategic infrastructure

It is here that the role of renewables must be reinterpreted according to a new interpretation: not only to cope with the climate crisis, but as a central element for an effective security strategy.

Sun and wind do not matter and are not subject to geopolitical tensions, not even in their industrial component, as is often claimed. Once installed, they produce energy for decades and at predictable costs, benefiting businesses and households. It is a safe and sustainable energy, capable of giving new impetus to a possible industrial rebirth. Like any profound transformation, however, the energy revolution also requires a settling time to fully unfold its benefits. In other words, renewables drastically reduce systemic risk.

It is not theory, it is already reality. The growth of solar and wind has helped to contain the impact of the recent energy crises: in the first weeks of the most recent one, for example, solar generation avoided billions of euros of additional gas imports, directly reducing the overall cost for the European system.

The functioning of the markets also reflects this trend: each new renewable capacity, especially if integrated with storage systems, reduces the number of hours in which the price is determined by gas, directly affecting volatility. During the hours when renewables set the price, the cost of energy can be significantly lower than average. On an annual scale, the impact is even more evident: in 2026 alone, the contribution of solar could avoid tens of billions of euros in gas imports, structurally reducing European energy dependence.

Overcoming delays to delivery

If the direction is clear, the real problem becomes its implementation.

Renewables are now the cheapest form of producing new energy and private capital is available. In Italy, in the last ten years, the sector has mobilized tens of billions of euros of investments; However, a significant portion of the projects remained pending.

It is clear that the problem is not technological or financial, but institutional: long authorization processes, regulatory uncertainty, insufficient infrastructure. This is where the energy issue becomes a political issue: every delay translates into greater dependence, greater volatility and higher costs for the economic system.

Energy and industrial policy

Energy security is also an industrial policy choice. A system based on volatile imports exposes companies to unpredictable prices and reduces competitiveness; In contrast, one based on renewables, electrification and storage offers greater stability and cost visibility.

The market is already moving in this direction. Long-term contracts for the purchase of renewable energy (corporate PPAs) are growing and represent an increasingly important tool for energy-intensive companies. It is not only an environmental issue, but a real competitive lever.

A choice that can no longer be postponed

The choice that Europe has to make is not between energy transition and economic stability, but exactly the opposite: without transition, stability cannot be guaranteed.

Reducing dependence on fossil imports is not an ideological goal, but an economic and strategic necessity. Renewables, integrated with storage systems and long-term contractual instruments, are now the most effective way to achieve this result.

The real critical factor is not the range of solutions available, but time: speeding up is no longer a question of ambition, but of responsibility.