Securing gas diversity

Diversity of supply should be central to the EU’s policy on gas pipelines.

In her article “Making Nordstream a European project” (20-26 May), Lena Kolarska-Bobińska MEP expressed  valid concerns about the need for additional legal certainty about the terms of the supply of Russian gas to Europe via the Nordstream pipeline.

However, by focusing on one project, we lose sight of the single most essential step towards securing Europe’s energy security: the diversification of supply. That is where the focus of the European Commission and European parliamentarians should be.

Several projects are currently being planned, including one – the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) – of which I am the managing director.

TAP’s particular – and substantial – contribution to energy security will be its connection of existing and planned natural gas transport grids in south-east Europe with gas systems in western Europe via Italy, the Adriatic Sea, Albania and Greece. We are also investigating the option of developing underground storage facilities in Albania; that could also ensure security of supply during operational interruptions of gas deliveries. TAP will, in short, kick-start the ‘southern gas corridor’ to Europe and provide the first realistic alternative to Russian supply.

The emphasis here is on ‘alternative’. There is room for more than one gas pipeline to help meet Europe’s future energy demands – and there needs to be more than one.

Diversity of supply has additional benefits. It means more capacity (TAP will be able to supply up to 20 billion cubic metres per year), optimal routing and greater marketing flexibility. It also strengthens Europe’s ability to compete for gas. In our case, that means gas from the Caspian region, and with the recent addition of a major new partner, E.ON, our ability to compete has just been increased (“Gas company joins Adriatic pipeline”, EuropeanVoice.com, 20 May).

 

From:

Kjetil Tungland

Managing director

Trans Adriatic Pipeline