France switches on its old nuclear power plants, Germany considers coal power – this is how replacing Russian energy became a confusing puzzle for Europe

Energy imports to Europe have changed radically with the war in Ukraine.

The European Union will reduce Russian natural gas imports by more than half this year and aims to completely wean itself off Russian oil by 2030. Most of the oil imports will end by the beginning of 2023.

– In the big picture, the change has gone surprisingly well. The EU has managed to act quite coherently and liquefied LNG gas has been able to respond flexibly to demand, assesses the Jean Monnet Professor of International Politics Pami Aalto from the University of Tampere.

LNG is natural gas cooled from gas to liquid, i.e. fossil fuel.

Russia has dramatically limited the export of natural gas to EU countries. For example, the amount of gas delivered through the Nord Stream gas pipeline has decreased considerably during the summer. In August, approximately 33 million cubic meters per day have passed through the pipeline, the same amount in July was still about double (you switch to another service).

Natural gas is especially problematic because it is difficult to quickly replace it. Replacing gas is like a puzzle where you try to assemble the whole from many different sources, explains Professor Pami Aalto.

Liquefied LNG gas has emerged as one key solution. For example, Finland and Estonia announced in June that they would rent an almost 300-meter LNG vessel to secure gas imports.

According to Aalto, there have been only a few similar projects.

– They should happen here and there around Europe, but it has been quiet. One problem is the availability of floating LNG terminals, says Aalto.

The open question is whether LNG will become a permanent solution or not.

– Permanent investments in fossil energy should not be made. The LNG terminal is a building that is and will remain. That’s why floating LNG terminals are more interesting solutions for investors, says Aalto.

According to him, there are now almost thirty LNG terminals in Europe, and approximately the same number more are planned.

Russia’s share of German gas imports was last year (you switch to another service) 55 percent. By the end of June, it dropped to 26 percent. In August, only 20 percent of Nord Stream 1’s capacity was in use.

The drastic reduction in natural gas resulted in the price of natural gas jumping in Germany by 153 percent in six months compared to the beginning of the year.

The German government agreed on a 15 billion euro support package for Germany’s largest importer of Russian gas, Uniper.

Germany decided in March (you switch to another service)to disengage from Russian energy by next year. Germany, for example, cut Russian oil imports by 15 percent in January-June.

The EU’s largest economy is looking for new ways to produce energy. Both the start-up of nuclear power plants and the use of coal-fired power plants in a critical situation have been discussed.

France is not nearly as dependent on Russian energy sources as many other EU countries. 17 percent of French natural gas comes from Russia and only 13 percent of oil.

France is almost self-sufficient in terms of energy. It produces 70 percent of its electricity with the help of nuclear power plants.

The country has 56 nuclear reactors, of which 32 are currently out of use.

Prime Minister of France Elisabeth Borne said on Monday that France plans to restart dormant reactors during the fall to avoid power shortages.

In addition, France has held negotiations with Algeria to secure natural gas and with the United Arab Emirates to replace Russian oil imports.

Italy’s dependence on imported Russian gas fell to 25% from 40% last year, told (you switch to another service)prime minister Mario Draghi in June.

In July, Draghi traveled to Algeria to negotiate natural gas deliveries to Italy. Algeria promised to increase gas supplies.

Draghi by (you switch to another service) Italy can be completely independent of Russian gas by the fall of 2024 if the project to build two new LNG terminals in Tuscany comes to fruition.

However, the result of the Italian general election may put a brake on the project. The Fratelli d’Italia party, which is leading in opinion polls, has announced that it does not support Draghi’s project.

Although natural gas arouses disagreement, the parties are on the same page when it comes to the import of Russian oil. In June 2022, the United States gave the green light to the Italian company Eni and the Spanish Repsol to import oil from Venezuela.

CEO of the Polish state-owned oil and gas company PGNiG Piotr Wozniak already stated in February 2019 that the company’s the only goal (you switch to another service) is to break away from Russian gas supplier Gazprom.

Until April, about 60 percent of Poland’s natural gas came from Gazprom through the Yamal gas pipeline, until Russia disconnected (you switch to another service) gas deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria, because the countries did not agree to pay Russia in rubles.

The Baltic Sea gas pipeline from Norway to Poland is to replace the Yamal pipeline in the near future. The pipeline is expected to be in use by the end of 2022.

In April, 75 percent of Bulgaria’s natural gas had started from Russia. Prime minister By Kiril Petkov the short-lived government tried to change the situation, but without success.

The completion of the gas pipeline between Greece and Bulgaria has been delayed.

Petkov’s government had started negotiations with Azerbaijan for gas supplies using seven LNG tankers, but Petkov’s government fell at the end of June after a vote of no confidence.

The prime minister who came to power in August Galab Donev the interim government has warmed its relations with the Kremlin.

The new government announced that it would approve only one LNG ship, citing high costs.

Last week, the energy minister Rossen Hristov said that Bulgaria’s gas reserves are threatening to run out as early as September, which is why the government has no choice but to start negotiations with the Gazprom company.

Hungary has continued negotiations with Russia on gas supplies since the start of the war in Ukraine.

In July, the Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto negotiated with Russia’s Sergei Lavrov about adding 700 million cubic meters via the Turkstream pipeline on top of the long-term supply agreement already concluded with Russia.

The agreement signed last year guarantees that Hungary will receive three and a half billion cubic meters of gas per year through the pipeline through Serbia and Bulgaria. In addition, Hungary receives a billion cubic meters of gas through the pipeline through Austria. The contract is valid for 15 years.

In addition to gas, Hungary is dependent on Russian pipeline oil. The EU Commission has proposed banning the import of Russian oil by the end of the year.

Hungary has opposed the initiative, citing concerns about security of supply.

The EU has responded and offered Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, which depend on pipeline oil, additional time to buy Russian oil until 2024.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, Lithuania became the first European Union member state to announce that it would stop all energy imports from Russia.

Soon, the Lithuanian government announced that it had achieved complete independence from Russian oil and gas.

Lithuania started building the Klaipėda LNG terminal already at the beginning of the 2000s. Today, Lithuania obtains its gas from the United States, Norway and Qatar.

Local electricity production and imports from European Union countries have so far been sufficient to meet the country’s electricity needs.

In Lithuania’s neighboring countries Estonia and Latvia, it is hoped that their own LNG terminals will be completed before winter.

Although Lithuania no longer buys Russian gas for domestic consumption, Russian gas still flows through Lithuania to Russia’s Kaliningrad.