Energo: Heatwave sparks surge in electricity use in coal-dependent Balkans

The heatwave gripping Southeast Europe has caused a sharp spike in electricity consumption as residents increasingly rely on air conditioners to cope with soaring temperatures.

This has worrying implications for the carbon emissions from the region, since coal remains a significant part of the energy mix in most countries, despite efforts to encourage investment into renewables. 

Unprecedented high temperatures, reaching up to 43 degrees Celsius in parts of the region, have made air conditioning a necessity in areas where it was rarely used in the past. This surge in cooling demand is contributing to global warming, exacerbating the climate crisis that could expose up to three-quarters of humanity to life-threatening heat and humidity by 2100, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 

Southeast Europe is one of the regions particularly vulnerable to climate change, with one study projecting the region’s climate will resemble that of the US Deep South by 2050.