Will the European Union succeed in doing without Russian gas? With the war in Ukraine, European countries are questioning their dependence on hydrocarbons from Moscow. Direction Italy and Poland.
Italy seeks partnerships with other countries
Two Italian ministers are in Congo Brazzaville on Thursday April 21 and they were in Angola on Wednesday. This African tour has only one objective: to buy gas. Because Italy is very clear, it wants to replace its Russian gas (40% of what it consumes) with gas from other suppliers. The government has signed new partnerships with Algeria and Libya in particular. She wants to double her imports with Azerbaijan. There is also Qatar, Egypt and therefore Congo, Angola and soon Mozambique. You should know that the Italian hydrocarbon company Eni is very powerful in Africa.
The United States will also sell more liquefied gas to Italy. A gas that must be “regasified” using floating units. Italy has only three and has not invested so far. Another criticism, if Italy does indeed diversify its gas supplies, it does so with countries still linked to Russia such as Azerbaijan or even Algeria, which is a key energy partner for Moscow. NGOs but also some politicians are also wondering about partnerships with countries that are not really democratic.
Another question concerns transalpine ecological ambitions. Even if the Minister of Ecological Transition is part of the delegation to Brazzaville and Luanda this week to buy liquefied natural gas in Qatar or the United States, you should know that LNG has a worse environmental impact than Russian gas, in any case the one that arrives by gas pipeline. It represents twice as much CO2 emissions. The positive side is that Italy has progressed fairly quickly in its energy mix with 20% renewable energies and the government maintains its European objectives and has just accelerated construction permits for wind farms. Finally, for the moment, the seven coal-fired power stations in the country must all close or be converted by 2025.
Italy is also tackling energy saving. In a very concrete way with the compulsory thermostat operation in public places recommended at home. It is a question of not putting the air conditioning at less than 27° C in summer with a tolerance of 25° and heating at 19° in winter with a tolerance of 21°. There would be a real impact on the environment if everyone played the game!
In Poland, energy security takes precedence over the climate
There are many differences between the conservative Polish government and the European Union over climate policy. Poland’s permanent representative to the EU Andrzej Sados summed up the country’s position in one sentence: “You have to ensure energy security before you start talking about an effective climate policy.” Warsaw has been increasing calls in recent weeks to put an embargo on all Russian hydrocarbons and is putting pressure on European leaders to end negotiations on climate policy. MEP Beata Szydlo even calls for the resignation of Frans Timmermans, vice-president of the European Commission, in charge of the Green deal. For the former Polish Prime Minister, Timmermans’ policy is dangerous for the European economy. According to her, Poland must continue to base its energy policy on its own resources, namely coal. Poland’s climate policy should therefore be to invest in technologies to extract this coal as ecologically as possible.
After a long standoff with the EU, Poland has finally announced its exit from coal by 2050, but the war in Ukraine could change the situation. The statements on this subject vary in Poland and prove that the government is in full reflection. State Assets Minister Jacek Sasin recently said he would like coal-based power to operate well beyond the deadline for the last mine to close. Its spokesperson then corrected by explaining that it was a question of exploiting more coal than envisaged but only until 2049. The unions of the miners affirm not to have been consulted on the subject yet. The economic reality remains: coal has been a loss-making sector for years in Poland. However, Warsaw seems ready to pay the price to keep its independence from Russia and reminds anyone who will listen that it has always been firmly opposed to the Nord Stream II gas pipeline linking Russia to Germany. An investment of nearly 10 billion euros which may never see the light of day because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.