Port boss Antwerp-Bruges doubts investments in new LNG terminals

The port of Zeebrugge additionally provides Germany with liquid gasoline. However the building of LNG terminals has no future, says port boss Vandermeiren. He would moderately export liquid CO2 – and has inexperienced hydrogen in his sights.

In the plans for Europe’s future power provide, ports play a central function. That was the case even earlier than Russia invaded Ukraine. In any case, a big a part of the inexperienced hydrogen that the EU wants to realize its local weather objectives is to be transported to the EU by ship. Because the outbreak of the Ukraine battle, nevertheless, the ports have been used for a very completely different objective: to scale back dependence on Russian pure gasoline. The EU Fee needs to interchange 50 billion cubic meters of Russian gasoline, a 3rd of all Russian imports, this 12 months with further imports of liquefied pure gasoline (LNG) – and this requires terminals all through Europe.

The new port of Bruges-Antwerp, which has simply emerged from the merger of the ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge, performs a key function in this. 15 p.c of LNG imports into the EU are presently dealt with by means of the port of Zeebrugge. Thus far, Germany has additionally been largely equipped with LNG from there. The system has been operating on the restrict of its capability for weeks. Nonetheless, the port’s CEO, Jacques Vandermeiren, is skeptical that investing in the development of new LNG capability is worth it – and this isn’t solely on account of Germany’s investments in its personal LNG terminals. The area is there, proper subsequent to the present LNG terminal in Zeebrugge. However: “Why ought to I construct new LNG terminals that can be out of date in a decade or two?” he says in an interview with the FAZ, irrespective of how a lot dependence on Russia have to be decreased. In the end, the funding has not paid off, no less than to this point. Accordingly, no less than in the mean time, there aren’t any concrete plans on the a part of the operator Fluxys.