How the Strait of Hormuz standoff flipped the energy security debate

In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on June 1, 2026, Iranians sit on Suru Beach in Bandar Abbas along the Strait of Hormuz. Amirhossein Khorgooei | Afp | Getty Images HELSINKI, Finland — Iran's influence over the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz has inadvertently transformed the energy security debate , effectively casting fossil fuels rather than renewables as the primary source of vulnerability. For decades, the conventional narrative has been one in which renewables were criticized for their intermittency issues and dependence on weather conditions, whereas technologies such as coal, oil, and gas were seen as providing security. The Middle East conflict and protracted closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that typically handles around 20% of the world's global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, have reframed this debate, however, laying bare the risks associated with fragile fossil fuel supply chains. Energy experts and the CEOs of Nordic energy giants Fortum and Statkraft made this point clear on the sidelines of the Eurelectric Power Summit in the Finnish capital this week. "I mean, the big mantras, and I'm surprised we haven't heard people talking about this yet, is that fossil fuels are now intermittent and uncertain, which, of course, was the argument levelled against renewables," Kingsmill Bond, energy strategist at U.K.-based think tank Ember, told CNBC in Helsinki. …