European countries, including Türkiye and the UK, have increased their liquefied natural gas (LNG) import capacity by 53.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) to 310.3 bcm since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian War in February 2022.
According to the data from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) and Gas Infrastructure Europe, imports totaled 256.9 bcm, but since then, capacity has steadily increased by 20.8 bcm in 2022 and 32.7 bcm last year.
The utilization rate of the 37 LNG terminals in Europe fell from 63% in 2022 to 58.5% last year, with four of the eight LNG terminals located in France falling below a 50% utilization rate.
Other countries with low utilization rates were Italy, Greece, Finland and Germany.
According to IEEFA's forecast, Europe's LNG demand will be around 135 bcm by 2030, meaning an unused capacity of about 265-270 bcm.
Last year, the US accounted for 46% of Europe's LNG imports, followed by Qatar at 12.1%, Russia with 11.7%, Algeria with 9.4%, Nigeria at 5.6%, and other countries accounting for the rest.
The countries that imported the most LNG last year were France, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Italy and Türkiye.
On the global market, 70% of LNG is exported under long-term contracts and the remaining 30% is sold to the highest bidder on the spot market.
Many European countries, which did not actively use LNG until the Russia-Ukraine war, have looked at other sources of supply over the past two years due to sanctions on Russian gas, and market trends and the expansion in LNG infrastructure show that LNG has become a viable option.
- 8 new terminals built
Since February 2022, four terminals have expanded, eight new terminals have been built and an unused terminal in Spain has been reactivated.
During this period, capacity increases have been seen in Adriatic LNG in Italy, Gate in the Netherlands, Fos Cavaou in France and Krk in Croatia.
The following facilities became operational: Saros FSRU in Türkiye in February 2023; Hoegh Gannet FSRU in Brunsbuttel, Germany, in March 2023; Exemplar FSRU in Finland in January 2023 and Eemshaven FSRU in the Netherlands in September 2022.
FSRU Neptune in Germany in April 2023 also supported the region’s LNG market, along with Golar Tundra FSRU in Italy in July 2023 and Cape Ann FSRU in France in October 2023.
The El Musel LNG terminal in Spain, which was shut down in 2012 due to the decline in natural gas demand, was reactivated in August 2023.
An additional 94 bcm of new LNG import capacity is in the planning stages in Europe, and these projects, which will be operational by 2030, will increase the region's LNG import capacity to 405 bcm.
- Europe's LNG terminals
Spain has seven terminals, the highest number in Europe, with a total annual capacity of 68.1 bcm.
Türkiye ranks second with almost 50 billion cubic meters of total LNG capacity. There are five different LNG terminals in Izmir: Aliaga LNG terminal, Marmara Ereglisi LNG terminal, Ertugrul Gazi Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU), Saros FSRU and Etki Liman FSRU.
The UK is home to three LNG terminals with an annual capacity of 48.1 bcm. France follows with four LNG terminals with an annual capacity of 39.5 bcm. The Netherlands has two terminals with an annual capacity of 24 bcm. Italy has four terminals with an import capacity of 20.9 bcm and Germany has three terminals with an annual capacity of 16 bcm.
In addition, Belgium has the Zeebrugge LNG terminal with a capacity of 9 bcm, Krk in Croatia has a capacity of 2.9 bcm, Independence in Lithuania holds a capacity of 4 bcm, and Revithoussa LNG terminal in Greece has a capacity of 7 bcm.
Athens plans to have more than three terminals with a capacity exceeding 15 bcm.
Other countries with notable LNG terminals and expansion projects include Poland, Portugal, Finland and Malta.
By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr