The EU is encouraging Member States to deploy Floating Storage Regasification Unit

The Commission is encouraging Member States to improve transnational pipeline connections and to install new LNG import facilities.

One aspect of this is the deployment of Floating Storage Regasification Units (“FSRU”) where suitable in the EU[1].

The Commission is also prioritizing hydrogen, as an alternative energy source that can reduce greenhouse gas emission. To reflect this commitment and facilitate their access to EU funding, some European countries are directing their infrastructure construction plans towards the use hydrogen. As an example, the pipeline project between Barcelona and Marseille which was supposed to carry natural gas, will carry only hydrogen. This part of the creation of a Mediterranean gas hub, for which the EU is also contributing to the financing of multiple infrastructure projects, such as the Cyprus East Med Pipeline and the CyprusGas2EU LNG terminal[2].

Recently, the Commission has confirmed funding for the underwater power line project between Italy and Tunisia, for an amount of about 307 million euros. In the same line, President von der Leyen gave her support for the future pipeline that will link France and Spain and carry hydrogen. This project should cost 2.5 billion of euros in total and would be operational by 2030.

According to the New reports highlight 3rd quarter impact of gas supply cuts (see link below), in Q3 2022 “a number of new gas infrastructure projects came online in the course of the period. These include the gas interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria, the Polish-Slovak gas interconnector, the Baltic pipe, delivering gas from Norway, and a new floating LNG terminal in Eemshaven in the Netherlands”.

[1] See European Gas Buyers Eye Floating Terminals as Russia Shunned, Bloomberg, March 8, 2022, available here ; see also Feature: Europe’s dash for new LNG import infrastructure picks up pace, S&P Global, August 10, 2022, available here.

[2] See L’Union européenne ne fait rien pour réduire sa dépendance au gaz russe ! Vraiment ?, L’Actualité, July 25, 2022, available here.