(Finance) – “The energy system is fragile because, looking at traditional supply opportunities, the three most important countries, namely Algeria, Norway and Azerbaijan, are supplying us to the maximum of their capabilities. A system is resilient if it has the ability to diversify and compensate“. He said it Stefano VenierCEO of Snamduring the press conference to present the new plan to 2029.
“When demand grows globally, we need to look at other supply methods – he explained – This emerged very clearly in the Russian-Ukrainian crisis. The easiest way was LNG, because building a new pipeline takes 10-15 years, while for an LNG ship, we did it in Piombino, it takes 6 months.”
“Procurement via pipeline links two countries inseparably, now LNG can arrive from different parts of the world – underlined Venier – While the European market was closed in on itself, it now has to compete globally and our need competes with that of Asia. It doesn’t apply to everyone, because there is also the issue of proximity, and Europe must look with great interest to West Africa and the Middle East; on the other hand, this diversification brings an advantage in having more options.”
“The fact that the USA have become the world’s largest LNG exporter in 10-15 years and intend to increase export capacity by 50% – and the first two projects will start in the next 18 months – I see it as an opportunity – said Snam – We have the right to procure additional volumes in that market, in competition with Asia, not paying more but the same from Asians”.
“But the USA is not alone, there are European companies that have LNG production, and there is Qatar – he added – The more liquid the market, the more competitive the market“.
“Italy has also followed this type of path – recalled the number one of Snam – In 2022 it was defined that Italy, which had a fairly limited quantity of LNG in its supply, leveraging 5 pipeline connections via 5 sources different, and that it was also appropriate in Italy, thus Snam’s request for two regasification ships, to encourage diversification and replacement of Russian gas. The last piece is now the Ravenna ship, which corresponds to the flows from north of Russian origin, and the construction of the Adriatic ridge which gives flexibility, also because we are using transportation capacity to maximum capacity“.
“Over the course of the plan we will have completed all the pieces, including the storages which are proving to be increasingly strategic. These traditionally had the role of meeting winter demand due to the cold, but in 2023 we agreed that they were a tool to avoid price volatility – he concluded – Now, in the last 6-8 months, we are discovering that it is strategic for giving stability to the electricity systemalso looking at what happened in Germany in recent months when there was a drop in renewable production.”