Morocco started shopping for the first time liquefied natural gas (LNG) later in the international market Losing access to gas on November 1 Algeria It came from the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline. To obtain this new source of supply, LNG purchased by Morocco will be unloaded in Spain.regasified in Spanish factories and was channeled through the sealed gas pipeline through the Strait of Gibraltar, and the gas will flow in the opposite direction as it did before Algeria shut it down after severing diplomatic relations with Rabat.
This new use of Spanish regasification plants should logically give an opportunity to the Gijón plant, which has not operated since its completion in 2012. Someone else in Portugal barely lets us see this possibility. Although the Moroccan project dates back months, the initial plan being worked on for the Gijon plant is as a gas tank. Since last year, tensions in the international price of this hydrocarbon and severe disagreements with Russia (Europe’s leading supplier), the EU has set a goal of strengthening its supply and storage capacity to reduce the high dependency on Moscow (40%).
The use of green hydrogen for export by ship paves the way for use for the Gijón plant after a decade of inactivity awaiting further projects, such as the option to store gas and then supply it in methane tankers to other facilities in Europe. Despite the fact that Spain already has 35% of European storage capacity, this is added to the UK’s.
activation The regasification of LNG by two tanks in Gijón was not considered with the new needs posed by Morocco. It was also not necessary to put it into service for this purpose after the closure of the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline, whose supply capacity was only partially balanced by the improvement of the Medgaz gas pipeline, which directly connects Algeria with Almería. With the contribution of LNG. It was not thought so far this year that Spain made the US its main supplier (34%) compared to Algeria, which has dropped its weight by 25% since January. In this way, if a year ago LNG (which had to be regasified) accounted for half of Spanish gas supply (the rest came via the gas pipeline), it now accounts for three-quarters of the total.
Despite this unexpected increase in liquefied gas, Six existing active regasification plants in Spain have proven to be able to meet the needs (Spanish users have not faced any gas restrictions) and will apparently meet the new Moroccan demand as well.
The Gijón regasification plant was proposed when it was believed that Spain would have 55 combined cycles (gas-fired power generation plants) and twelve such projects were mentioned in Asturias, eventually reduced to two of the EDP in Soto. Ribera’s.
Spain therefore has excess capacity in regasification plants (27% of available capacity in the entire EU and UK), which means an extra cost in the gas price for consumers. And it is not even possible to think of using them for export because the two small gas pipelines from France to Navarra and the Basque Country do not allow Spain to be used as a major regasification center as it could be for the rest of Europe. And it would take time to bring back the canceled Midcat gas pipeline project via France and Catalonia.
This The Gijón plant costs 25 million each year without operating. But in 2012, a report from the National Energy Commission said it would cost 67 million dollars to regasify as a regasification plant without the need at the time. Now, and so as not to raise consumer bills, its possible activation as a warehouse is intended to require a financial effort for the gas system no more than it currently supports by the facility’s fee for its availability.