Europe is turning to liquefied natural gas (LNG) alternatives to reduce its dependence on Russia for natural gas and is using its existing LNG terminals at half capacity.
Last year, 380 million tons of LNG were in trade in the global market, of which about 80 million tons were purchased by Europe.
In the global market, 70% of LNG is exported under long-term contracts. Therefore, the remaining 30% is sold to the country with the highest bid in the spot market. Many European countries that have not actively used LNG until now are seriously considering this option.
According to the information compiled by Anadolu Agency (AA) from the International Gas Association and Gas Infrastructure Europe data, Turkey and Israel were also included on the list of LNG terminals examined.
When Turkey's LNG terminals are included, Europe, which has a total of 28 LNG import terminals, uses these stores at half capacity. Spain is listed as the country with the most LNG terminals in Europe, with six terminals with an annual capacity of 43.8 million tons.
The United Kingdom, which has three LNG terminals with an annual capacity of 38.1 million tons, is followed by France with four LNG terminals with a capacity of 25 million tons and Italy with an import capacity of 11 million tons across three terminals.
While Turkey has two LNG import terminals, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, the Netherlands and Poland each have one. In addition, Turkey purchases LNG through two floating terminals, while Israel, Lithuania and Croatia have one floating terminal each.
In addition, small-scale terminals in countries such as Norway, Sweden and Malta are not included on the list of LNG import terminals.
Terminals in Europe currently have an annual LNG purchase capacity of close to 150 million tons. However, Europe, which imported 85 million tons of LNG in 2019, bought 82 million tons LNG in 2020.
Europe, which uses LNG to meet a quarter of its gas needs, uses just over half of its import capacity. This means that there is about 70 million to 75 million tons of spare capacity.
According to the calculations, Spain uses 37% of its capacity, the U.K. 38%, Italy 82%, the Netherlands 77%, Belgium 90%, France 66%, Portugal 70% and Greece 49%.
The annual natural gas needs of European Union countries vary between 340-350 billion cubic meters (bcm) in total. Last year, EU countries imported 140 bcm of gas, with 15 bcm as LNG from Russia through pipelines.
About 40% of the EU's total gas consumption in 2021 came from Russia.
Europe plans to build 26 new LNG terminals in the coming period to diversify its natural gas supply.
Germany, which does not currently have any LNG terminals, will build two LNG terminals. France and Spain will add five units to their existing LNG terminals. Ireland will build three LNG terminals, Estonia plans to build two and Croatia, Finland, Denmark, Poland, Ukraine, Malta and the U.K. will each build one terminal.
Many LNG projects were planned in previous years but could not gather enough investment, however, LNG is expected to focus more prominently on the agenda due to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
