Rede auf der 46. Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz - 06.02.2010

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Ladies and Gentlemen,   

The city of Cologne is not far from where I live. The inhabitants of Cologne are extremely proud of their famous Cathedral which is a permanent construction site.

With this in mind, people would either say "The day the Cathedral is finished will be Judgement Day", or they say "Anything is more likely to happen than the Cathedral being finished".

Putting the subject of my statement into the present context, I would say: "The Nabucco pipeline will more likely be finished by the end of this year than I will be able to outline the problems of "Resource Security and Shifting Global Power" to you in three minutes.

Okay, two and a half minutes left – I try anyhow.

What are the prerequisites:

- The financial and economic crisis has led to lower prices for energy. Prices for natural gas on the spot market declined by 55 per cent, crude oil by 35 per cent and hard coal by 30 per cent.

Our modern societies rely on the availability of energy at affordable prices. By now, expenditures for energy in the economies of the European Union achieve almost one trillion Euro per year.
We shall not exceed this figure!

- We will have to invest in the development of a more energy efficient, less CO2 emitting world and equally in strong energy growth in countries like Brazil, China and India as well as in most of the energy rich Arab states.

The IEA – for example – believes that some 26 thousand billion US dollars in investments will be required by 2030 to satisfy worldwide energy demand and ensure global energy security.
What are the conclusions:

- We have to maintain and increase security of energy supply for all nations wanting to maintain prosperity and stability of their society.
- Security of supply requires for those nations producing energy – like Russia – security of demand. Security of demand and security of supply require international cooperation, in mutual respect and for mutual benefit.
- In open-market-economies, security of supply is the responsibility of markets. Governments must ensure that markets can work by sending price signals for investments.
- If these conclusions are properly drawn and executed, not only security of energy supply will be achieved but simultaneously climate protection and inner security of the states involved.

Let me outline some facts which lead to this conclusion:

- Global energy demand will increase by at least one third by 2030.
- Conventional energy sources will continue to make up the largest share of worldwide consumption. The efforts made worldwide to develop renewable energy cannot mitigate this.

- Oil and gas are found in regions with possible challenging security situations. Instability in any of these regions or in any major energy exporting country can lead to drastic price increases.

What can we do – at national level and globally – to mitigate these risks:

- We need to enforce energy efficiency with market-driven instruments – and not with subsidies, tempting as it may be.
- We mustn’t put all eggs in one basket but have to pin on a variety of energy sources, from renewables to coal, oil and nuclear.
 
Can a major player like RWE contribute to all this?

- The "Nabucco" gas pipeline project will bring new gas through a new route and therefore brings diversity of energy source and diversity of energy transport.
- The "DESERTEC" desert power project aims to produce energy from the sun in North Africa.
- With our investment in Excelerate, which is the onboard regasification of LNG, we have created a cheap option for security of supply through LNG.
- And finally, we believe in innovation.

Electricity as an energy source will play a key role. Security of supply and climate protection will not require less but more electricity.

E-mobility or an electricity-based heat supply are excellent ways of minimizing dependence on oil and gas imports, when combined with renewable and domestic energy sources. We are working on this as well.

You know, it’s all about money.

Private enterprises need an investment-friendly political environment.

My company has experienced more than once what it means to have power plant projects involving billions of Euros fail because of the resistance of the population or lacking political support.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Energy security, climate protection and domestic security have one common denominator: maintaining and developing a variety of energy sources.

Now let’s go and work on Nabucco and similar projects diversifying our sources… 

 

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Es gilt das gesprochene Wort!