All articles by Anna Gumbau
Anna Gumbau is a freelance energy and climate journalist based in Brussels. She mainly covers the European Green Deal and its impact on central and eastern Europe. Prior to going freelance, she was Carbon Pulse’s Brussels correspondent, and an energy reporter with Interfax Global Energy Services in London.
Anna Gumbau
EU braces for ‘crucial’ revision of 27 national energy and climate plans
EU energy companies are anxiously waiting for the bloc’s 27 governments to deliver revised National Energy and Climate Plans, due at the end of the month, which could help drive much-needed investments in renewables.
What Spain’s latest cinema hits say about its energy transition
Two recent films highlight one of the paradoxes of Spain’s energy transition: as renewables deployment ramps up, so will public opposition to it.
Is the EU bracing for an electricity market design revolution, or evolution?
The European Commission is planning an overhaul of the EU’s electricity market design, but the power sector is warning against any radical changes and fears the move to reform the wholesale market will hamper investor confidence.
The ‘Iberian exception’: A success story?
Six months ago Spain and Portugal introduced the so-called ‘Iberian exception’, a cap on wholesale gas prices to reduce the cost of electricity. Now Brussels has finally agreed on an EU-wide cap. What can the bloc learn from the Iberian experience?
The French-Spanish ‘BarMar’ pipeline will do little to address the energy crisis in the short-term
The new ‘green energy corridor’ agreed between France, Spain and Portugal is promising for green hydrogen, but will do little to ease Europe’s current energy security concerns and might still lock the region into additional gas infrastructure.
Ukraine sets plans for ambitious ‘green’ reconstruction
Ukraine’s reconstruction from Russia’s full-scale war gives Europe’s most energy-intensive economy the opportunity to become a hub for green electricity and hydrogen exports to Europe.
This is the EU Parliament’s last chance to raise carbon market ambition
After a major setback last week, the European Parliament has one more shot to raise the ambition of the EU’s carbon market and speed up European industry’s transition to net zero.
Energy price crisis: Is the EU’s power market design to blame?
Amid calls from some EU governments to revamp the EU’s electricity market design, experts argue that the market does not need ‘quick fixes’ but long-term price signals to spur investments in flexibility and emerging technologies.
What Europe can learn from Portugal’s accelerated coal exit
Portugal shut down its two remaining coal-fired power plants at the end of 2021, showing that an ambitious coal exit is possible through a combination of carbon pricing, renewable energy investment and just transition planning.
Russia’s war on Ukraine spotlights critical energy infrastructure
Russia’s military assault on Ukraine is exposing the need for a resilient energy infrastructure as Russian troops seize some of the country’s energy assets and cyberattacks threaten Kyiv and the EU.