Nord Stream 2 will happen - Europe is not able to refuse Russian gas
Despite any sanctions, the largest European countries are unable to refuse Russian gas, and Nord Stream 2, despite all US efforts, will be completed.
Andrey Konoplyanik, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Scientific Council for System Research in Energy, announced this during a press conference in Moscow, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Europe cannot refuse Russian gas. There is nothing to replace it with, or it is so expensive, regardless of whether it is American LNG or any other LNG. Liquefied natural gas does not guarantee reliable uninterrupted supply. Because LNG within the global market goes where the price is higher.
How can we replace Russian natural gas? It is believed that in the distant future it can be replaced by “green” hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources. First of all, it's a very long story. Secondly, it is ruinously expensive for Europe. Because you cannot build enough wind turbines and solar panels within Europe itself to meet the necessary needs. There is simply not enough territory for this.
Then there is a second idea - to build huge electrolyzers and place them in North Africa. But, firstly, you will produce this energy, which in itself will be expensive, God knows where. How will you deliver it in the form of hydrogen or ammonium to Europe? It is necessary to build very expensive pipelines for pumping hydrogen, and these are fundamentally different technologies - compare the methane molecule and the hydrogen molecule, their aggressiveness, and so on. This is a dead end thing. This is nonsense,” Konoplyanik said.
“That is, they cannot refuse Russian gas - only under severe political pressure. And tough political pressure in traditional normal Europe is faltering. Yes, the Young Europeans will spoil things, but the main markets are traditional Western countries – Germany, Italy, France and the UK,” the expert explained.
In turn, the head of the negotiation group of the USSR Ministry of Gas Industry to coordinate gas supplies to Europe via the Urengoy - Pomary - Uzhgorod gas pipeline, Yuri Zaitsev, assured that the Germans have already invested a lot of money in SP-2 and have global plans for it, which means it will be completed.
“As for Nord Stream, I think there are no special problems - it will, of course, be built. And we don’t have such tensions about when it will be – in December or January, because demand and exports are expected to be approximately 170 billion for the year. Secondly, the Germans have already built gas pipelines as a continuation of Nord Stream, and reported about this,” Zaitsev said.
Nord Stream 2 is a go -to project – Europe is unable to give up Russian gas