From grids to homes: Electrical Contractors at the frontline of Europe’s energy security

Right before 15th December meeting between the EU Energy ministers and the NATO Secretary General, EuropeOn, the European Electrical Contractors’ Association, publishes its first briefing on the role of electrical contractors in Europe’s energy security: “A Resilient Europe with Shockproof Electrical Installations”. With over 2.7 million professionals working across 420,000 companies (mostly SMEs), electrical contractors design, install and maintain the electrical and digital installations that keep Europe running, even in times of crisis.

Recent events, from the Iberian blackout to repeated attacks on Ukraine’s energy system, have highlighted the strategic nature of energy. The briefing stresses that resilience cannot stop at the grid: it must reach the installations that keep hospitals functioning, public services operating, factories productive and households powered.

In the context of EU’s ongoing implementation of the Preparedness Strategy, the forthcoming Energy Security Framework review, and NATO’s call for Allies to dedicate up to 1.5% of GDP annually to critical infrastructure and civil resilience; EuropeOn has mapped the sector’s realised and potential contributions to energy security. Electrical contractors play a decisive and often underestimated role for Europe’s resilience:

  • delivering and advising on the energy transition;
  • training and employing a skilled workforce across Europe;
  • digitalising Europe in a secure way;
  • providing rapid emergency response and operational support.

EuropeOn’s briefing also presents a selection of best practices and outlines initial policy recommendations to strengthen Europe’s energy resilience. These include:

  • Improving energy security through accelerated electrification and policy continuity
  • Including the electrical contracting sector in risk-preparedness frameworks
  • Addressing workforce and skills shortages and factor them in preparedness planning.
  • Curbing cybersecurity risks across the energy value chain
  • Enabling island-mode operation of buildings
  • Raising public awareness on energy security and resilience

In the words of Julie Beaufils, Secretary General of EuropeOn: “Europe has entered an era of low-intensity conflict and a multiplication of extreme climate events, which are putting our energy and digital infrastructures under strain. Electrical contractors are the vital intermediary between end-users and the essential services they rely on daily. This briefing is a call to our associations and companies to treat energy security as a core responsibility, and a call to policymakers to cooperate with our sector so that Europe is better prepared for the disruptions ahead.”

This briefing marks the first step towards a forthcoming white paper and continued work and collaboration on the role of electrical contractors in strengthening Europe’s resilience.

Read the full publication here.