The Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson , will travel to Algeria on October 10 to assess the gas supply situation in Europe after having visited Egypt as well as Azerbaijan.
The visit takes place in the middle of the negotiation process that Naturgy is maintaining on the prices that Spain will have to pay for Algerian gas and after the entry of gas from Algeria to Italy has been reinforced.
Simson’s intention is to press the Algerian government on the possibility of achieving better prices for the purchase of natural gas through the Joint Purchase Platform that the European Commission is setting up.
Meanwhile, the agreement between Sonatrach and Naturgy ended last year and the gas company expects to face a price increase in the coming months that it will have to apply retroactively to Spanish customers.
The Vice President and Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, in her speech before the Council, defended the use of ” European energy diplomacy ” to try to reinforce the purchase of gas but avoided making allusions to the Commissioner’s next trip.
Ribera explained to the European Council that the situation in Spain is centered more on a concern for prices than for resource availability.
“Spain is at 84% capacity and we are working to facilitate a reduction in consumption with a contingency plan in which all energies will be considered,” said Ribera.
Portugal has approved a water reserve to guarantee its electricity supply
The vice president explained that her government has already adopted measures this summer such as regulating temperatures and lighting in empty buildings. Likewise, he reiterated the need to include price limitations and entered fully into the MidCat debate by openly requesting that the infrastructures be reinforced in order to be prepared for the 2023/2024 winter. He asked the High Level Group for interconnections to draw up a map of the necessary interconnections for the year 2023-2024 both in terms of electricity and hydrogen gas.
Ribera also assured, in line with what was indicated by the president of Naturgy, Francisco Reynés at the VII Energy Forum of elEconomista.es, that the reference of the TTF -the Dutch market- is no longer valid and considers it important to articulate alternatives for the fixing of prices.
Spain, indicated the Spanish representative, is working on support measures and facilitating the use of transport vessels from a network to work between Spain and Italy or the El Musel logistics center that will come into operation next winter.
Croatia has approved a package of measures of 2,800 million to cap prices
Throughout the session, the different member countries explained the measures they have been adopting to face winter. Portugal, for example, has approved a water reserve to guarantee electricity supply as well as forcing marketers to have contracted gas reserves.
Denmark has adopted a plan to reduce gas consumption. Croatia has approved a package of measures of 2,800 million by which it sets a price cap for electricity for households, SMEs and large companies with a duration of six months. The Government has made the decision to double the capacity of the LNG terminal and increase its gas pipelines. For forecast will invest 180 million.
Italy has allocated 50,000 million to mitigate price increases
Malta only uses liquefied natural gas to produce electricity. They depend on the interconnection with Italy but it is promoting savings in the consumption of public buildings, as well as energy audits.
Italy has allocated 50,000 million to alleviate price increases. It hopes to have two new regasification plants in 2024 and is now negotiating an energy saving plan with the industry for mid-October. The country has accelerated the installation of renewables with 9.3 GW of requests and they expect to put 8 GW into operation.
Luxembourg urged to eliminate the waste of electricity with activities such as crypto mining and welcomed the supply of gas from Belgium and the Netherlands.
France will also have a floating regasification plant in 2024 in Le Havre. His minister explained that she has accelerated the tests to import electricity from Germany and has a plan that facilitates the disconnection of both gas and electricity installations in cases where it may be necessary.
Germany has approved the largest renewables package in its history but also insists that it has reduced electricity consumption by 21%, which has also led to the loss of industrial production.
Romania has launched a plan of 1,000 million for the renovation of plants. He asks that the construction of the correct vertical Trans-Baltic gas pipeline be accelerated and demanded greater budget support.
Hungary asked Romania to speed up the approval of the interconnection between the two countries.
Finland considers that it may be necessary to limit the supply of electricity. The country trusts in the operation of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant and a regasification plant. Hungary asked Romania to speed up the approval of the interconnection between the two countries.
Latvia has approved a support package for households to offset heating and a mechanism for energy-intensive businesses. The country has reduced gas consumption by 33%.