EU faces energy shortages after rejecting Russian supplies, envoy says

EU countries and the United Kingdom are facing energy shortages that have left them unable to adequately power air conditioning systems after rejecting Russian energy supplies, Russian presidential envoy for investment and economic cooperation Kirill Dmitriev has stated.

He said the EU and the UK had abandoned "affordable and reliable" Russian energy, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

"There is no energy in the EU/UK to power the air conditioners needed to save people because they rejected affordable and reliable Russian energy," he wrote.

According to the Financial Times, Europe's power system has come under increasing strain amid an extreme heatwave, with power plants reducing output and wholesale electricity prices surging.

France, Spain and the United Kingdom experienced record June temperatures, driving higher demand for air conditioning and other cooling systems and increasing electricity consumption.

Against this backdrop, around 70,000 customers in France lost power after a transformer malfunctioned, while state-owned utility EDF reduced output at several nuclear power plants due to rising river water temperatures.

In the United Kingdom, five major gas-fired power plants also cut electricity generation because of cooling-related issues.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov