LNG som alternativ til russisk gass

Russland stenger ned forsyningene av naturgass til andre europeiske land og kappløpet for å finne alternative energiforsyningskilder pågår for fullt. The Economist har en interessant artikkel om hvordan LNG fra USA og Asia er et ganske brukbart alternativ, ja det har faktisk vært ledig kapasitet:

"To wean themselves off Russian supplies, many European countries are turning to liquefied natural gas (lng) imported from America and Asia. lng imports increased by 47.7% year-on-year in April, and by 19.9% compared with March. This liquid supply must be returned to its gaseous state before it is sent to end users. Until recently Europe appeared to have plenty of processing facilities. It can in theory handle enough lng to replace nearly two-thirds of Russian piped gas. The continent’s import terminals ran at just 45% of capacity in 2021, according to Energy Intelligence, an industry publisher."

Slik er det ikke lenger. Og fordi de fleste eksisterende importterminalene er andre steder (særlig i Spania og UK) enn der behovet er størst (Tyskland, Italia, Polen), vil det kreves store investeringer i tiden som kommer. Men fordi det tar tid å få de nødvendige reguleringsplanene og tillatelsene, og det tar til å bygge, ser mange etter andre og raskere alternativer. For eksempel ved å ta i bruk flytende anlegg for mottak, lagring og regassifisering av LNG. The Economist skriver:

"But building onshore facilities takes time. One quick solution is to lease floating storage and regasification units (fsrus), ships that convert the liquid fuel back into gas. Germany’s government plans to install four in the near future, at a cost of nearly €3bn ($3.2bn). The first project, at Wilhelmshaven on the North Sea, may begin operation within months and will have a capacity of 7.5bn cubic metres per year, equivalent to around 8.5% of Germany’s gas demand. Other countries are following suit. Poland, which relied on Russia for around half of its gas (although around 70% of its energy comes from coal), plans to bring forward the opening of an fsru to 2025 and is considering installing another, allowing it to sell more gas to the land-locked Czech Republic and Slovakia. France and Italy have begun the process of acquiring their own; on May 30th SNAM, an Italian energy firm, reached a $350m deal to buy a vessel."