Russian gas already accounts for only 8% of total consumption in the European Union

by time news

The four reported leaks – allegedly sabotage – at the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines are the latest episode in the dwindling supply of Russian gas to Europe and perhaps the latest chapter in an energy dependence on Russia forged over decades. The one that until a few months ago was the main source of natural gas for the European Union has been relegated to the penultimate position in the ranking of suppliers of the community block. This is what the European Network of Transmission of Gas Operating Systems (Entsog, in its acronym in English) points out.

Russian gas already accounts for only 8% of total consumption in the European Union


According to the monitoring of the Entsog, which centralizes the data on the arrival of gas through pipelines, by ships and also on the level of storage in the EU countries, Russian gas already only accounts for 8% of the total consumption total in Europe. Before the start of the invasion of Ukraine, it was close to half. Almost a third of the gas imported by the EU from Russia went to the German market, illustrating the dependence on Russian fossil imports developed by Europe’s first economy, which began when the Soviet Union still existed.

Four interconnects

Especially dependent on Russian gas are countries that do not have an infrastructure of plants to transform liquefied gas, such as Germany, Austria or Hungary. Berlin is rapidly building several degassing plants in the North Sea, which should start operating next year.

There are four main gas interconnections that link Russia with Central Europe: the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, which cross the Baltic Sea – the first stopped supplying gas at the end of last August, officially due to a technical problem, and the second never came into operation after not receiving the necessary certification from the German authorities; the Jamal gas pipeline, which connects Russia and Germany through Belarus and Poland, has not supplied gas since last May; because of the transit through Ukraine, gas continues to flow; and the Turkstream, which connects Russia with Italy via the Black Sea, Turkey and Greece, which also continues to operate today.

The Minister of Economy and German Vice-Chancellor, the green Robert Habeck, has recently said that the amount of Russian gas currently arriving in Europe can be considered “homeopathic doses”. Germany has been looking for months for alternatives to an energy source whose days are numbered. The productive processes of German industry are highly dependent on gas consumption and, although the reserves of the first European economy already exceed 90%, Berlin fears having to introduce rationing measures when consumption begins to increase in households and companies with the arrival of the colder months.

The MidCat option

Currently, and according to Entsog’s figures, the liquefied gas that arrives by ship in Europe is already the main source of supply for consumption in the Old Continent. This liquefied gas, which comes partly from the US, definitely surpassed Russian gas last April.

Gas from Norway is also presented as a complementary alternative to liquefied gas and has already become the second source of supply in the European gas market. The governments of Poland, Denmark and Norway inaugurated this week the Baltic Pipe, a gas pipeline that connects the Nordic country with that of Eastern Europe. This is a deviation of around 900 kilometers in length from Europipe II, which previously connected Norway with northern Germany. Norwegian supply capacity is, however, much more limited than Russia’s.

In this context, Algeria, tenth world producer of gas, is positioned as another serious alternative. Italy – which, like Spain, is connected by gas pipeline to the North African country – has already agreed with Algiers to buy 25,000 million cubic meters of gas by the end of the year. The potential for Algerian gas growth is enormous: it is currently the third largest source of gas supply in Europe, but far behind liquefied gas and natural gas from Norway.

The big problem with Algerian gas supplied to Spain and Italy is the lack of gas connections between the south and northern and central Europe. The Government of Pedro Sánchez, with the express support of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, insists on the need to promote the Midcat project, which passes through the Girona counties, and bets on co-financing from the European Commission. The Government of France, the country through which this new gas pipeline should also pass, continues to be, however, reluctant to give the green light to the project.

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