Italy is trying to diversify gas supply sources.
The aim is to fill the storage with 12 billion cubic meters (plus 4 emergency) by winter, to survive the cold months and get rid of dependence on Russia as soon as possible, within two to three years. We imported 29 billion cubic meters of gas from Moscow last year (38% of our consumption).
GAS PIPING. The starting point are the five gas pipelines that connect Italy in Mazara del Vallo, Sicily (Transmed), Melendugno, Apulia (Tap), Gela, Sicily (Greenstream), Passo Greis, Piedmont (Transitgas) and Tarvisio, in Friuli (Tag , from the Russian gas arrives via Ukraine).
ALGERIA. The deal with Algeria, Italy’s second largest supplier after Russia, will result in a phased increase in supplies through the Transmed pipeline to an additional 9 billion cubic meters in 20232024.
AZERBAIJAN. Further additional flows are expected from Azerbaijan, the target of the previous diplomatic mission, via the TAP. Baku has pledged to deliver another 2.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas up to 9.5 billion. A market analysis is also being carried out for doubling the transported gas up to 20 billion cubic meters, which if successful would take about 4 years to construct without the need for new infrastructure.
LIBYA. Additional smaller shipments could also come from Libya, which is importing 3.2 billion cubic meters via Greenstream but has currently maximized capacity, according to the government. However, no increase in imports is expected from Northern Europe.
THE OTHER COUNTRIES. There are a total of seven countries with which Italy would negotiate new deliveries. The diplomatic missions of Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio have also been sufficient in recent weeks Algeria and Azerbaijan, Qatar, Congo, Angola and Mozambique strengthen energy cooperation. Prime Minister Mario Draghi is expected to visit the last three soon to finalize the deals.
LNG (liquefied natural gas). In particular, from Qatar, the first supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Italy, and Egypt, with Eni, another 3 billion cubic meters are expected to arrive in 2022 and 5 billion in 2023, another 5 billion would come from Congo in 20232024. New additional flows would come from the United States, as promised by President Joe Biden to the European Union.
THE NEW REGASIFIERS. In order to be fed into the grid, the LNG must be processed in the regasifiers. To deal with the crisis, the volumes treated at the three existing plants in Panigaglia, off the coast of Rovigo and Livorno, will be increased by 6 billion cubic meters. Snam is negotiating two more floating structures. “The first ship will be operational in the first half of 2023” announced the Minister of Ecological Transition, Roberto Cingolani, on Saturday, naming a capacity of 5 billion cubic meters per year and possible destinations , Piombino, Taranto, Brindisi or the upper Adriatic.
NATIONAL PRODUCTION. Help for energy independence also comes from increasing national production by 2.2 billion cubic meters in areas like Cassiopeia, Canale di Sicilia and Marche.
MONEY. In the short term, coal and oil could also play a role, saving 34 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
RENEWABLE. However, as a structural response, new renewable projects of up to 8 GW per year could result in savings of 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, but they will take time to build and adapt the grid. Ultimately, the development of biomethane results in potential savings of around 2.5 cubic meters.