The present energy price crisis on fossil fuels due to the Rus- sian-Ukrainian war has shown that some countries are more vulnerable regarding energy prices and costs than others. This cannot only be explained by having poorly insulated buildings or a high energy-demanding industry. There are other explana- tions from which countries most exposed to high prices could learn. The below statements are observations and recommendations to governments wanting energy prices and costs to be as low as possible for industry and consumers. The learnings are divid- ed into fuel, electricity, heat, and infrastructure chapters and can be used separately or combined. Learnings regarding the use of fuels Oil and natural gas prices have increased dramatically from the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war until October 2022. All countries have had the same price increases on fossil fu- els. Differences in actual fuel prices are mainly related to fuel transportation costs and, in a few cases, long contracts or gov- ernment subsidies.
els. Most renewable fuels are not following the same market mechanisms. Still, they will more likely follow the price of the fuel they replace, which means prices will follow other fuels, and often the deviation in prices is developing slowly. Renew- able fuels are getting more competitive when fossil fuel prices go up, which speeds up the replacement of fossil fuels. As with fossil fuels, a country can depend on the import of renewa- bles, which can increase price risks. To avoid this, the govern- ment should monitor available resources – like straw, wood, food, garden waste, building waste, municipal waste, manure, etc.- and implement resource strategies to avoid imbalances between demand and supply. Countries with a large share of combined heat and power (CHP) production have managed much better than those without. The reason for this is simple. The costs for fuels used for CHP production are shared between the electricity and heat sides. Then marginal heat and electricity production price does not go up as much compared to producing heat and electricity alone. CHP is simply more efficient than heat and power-alone production, and the saved fuel costs keep price increases lower. Learning 1: High building standards and standards for energy conversation prevent high energy costs, no matter the type of energy used.
Countries with a large share of combined heat and power (CHP) production have managed much better than those without.
Learning 2: CHP ensures low fuel consumption and lower costs.
The transportation sector in most countries has seen the same price increases, maybe to a lesser degree in Norway, which is fortunate to be less dependent on fossil fuels and have a large share of electric vehicles compared to other countries. For countries not using much natural gas and oil for industry and heating buildings, the impact of increased fuel prices has been low compared to very dependent countries. Especially for countries with high winter heat demand based on fossil fu- els, the crisis has hit hard, though it seems that countries with high building standards have managed better than countries without. Renewable fuels have to some degree, followed the increase in fossil fuels, and shortages have been seen due to increased consumption and hoarding. Generally, prices for residues and waste used for incineration and gasification have been least affected without significant increases compared to fossil fu-
Learning 3: Alternative and renewable fuels lower risks for fast price deviations and get more competitive when fossil fuel prices increase. Learning 4: A resource strategy to reuse and recycle as much as possible and allocate residues suitable for energy to CHP or biomethane plants ensures lower costs. Learnings about getting low electricity prices Electricity prices vary significantly from price area to price area in Europa during the war. The countries with an electricity sec- tor mainly dependent on natural gas power alone plants set- ting the marginal power production price in most hours have been hit hardest. Even large renewable electricity production from wind turbines and solar collectors hasn't led to low prices if renewable electricity production does not exceed demand. Renewable power producers have increased profit significant-
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