Analyst Insight: Europe's Natural Gas Crisis

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has shaken Europe, not only because it was the first time that war had broken out on European soil since the end of World War II, but also because its energy system, which keeps much of the European populace warm in the winter, was built on shaky foundations. Years of steady natural gas consumption, and increased reliance on Russia to provide it cheaply, lulled European countries into a false sense of security. Russia’s energy exports satisfy around a quarter of all European energy use, and its willingness to use it as political pressure threatens European solidarity with Ukraine during the coming winter.

A reduction in European consumption of Russian gas is almost a moot point. Sky-high prices mean that while receiving less gas, Europeans are paying over 200% more than they were at the beginning of 2021. Looking particularly at natural gas distributed generation (NGDG), the threat to the natural gas economy in Europe does not bode well.

The Guidehouse Insights report presents global forecasts for three NGDG technologies: natural gas (NG) gensets, stationary fuel cells (SFCs), and microturbines. Markets are segmented by region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa) and application (residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial applications).