For Cingolani, national security depends on two new regasifiers

According to the Minister of Ecological Transition Cingolani, energy security depends on the regasifiers of Piombino and Ravenna.But at what price?

Update October 25th.  The Tuscany Region has decided to issue the authorization to the Piombino regasifier.“I have just signed the authorization to install the regasification terminal in the port of Piombino.The realization of this great work means for 60 million Italians to lower their bills and receive gas without depending on Russia" he explained the president of the Tuscany Region, and commissioner for the construction of the work, Eugenio Giani.

The authorization is linked to a memorandum made up of 10 points, including the financing to complete the port infrastructure both for the regasification terminal and for local activities such as fishing, fish farming and tourism;discounts of at least 50% on energy bills for businesses and families residing in the municipalities included in the complex industrial crisis area of ​​Piombino;financing of 200 million euros for the removal and management of the so-called ex-steel mounds abandoned in the public areas of the SIN (outside the perimeter of the JSW Steel Group);financing of 100 million euros for the renewable energy park for Piombino and the Val di Cornia connected to both photovoltaic and wind power plants.The mayor of Piombino, Francesco Ferrari, of Fratelli d'Italia but against the work, has announced that he will appeal to the TAR.

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National security depends on two LNG terminals.In the week that effectively closes his experience Minister of Ecological Transition, Roberto Cingolani took stock of Italy's energy supply capabilities, and where having explained that we should be set for the winter of 2023, announces that for the foreseeable future we cannot be as calm.Unless, in fact, the regasification of liquefied natural gas (LNG) arriving from the United States accelerates.“All the other countries are doing a similar thing, everyone is shifting the center of gravity to LNG,” says Cingolani speaking at the Green Talks by Rcs Academy.Repower Eu towards the Energy Union.“It is extremely urgent that from the beginning of next year there is at least the first regasification terminal, that of Piombino of 5 billion cubic meters, and the second by the beginning of 2024".

What are regasifiers

First of all, what is a regasification terminal? This is a plant capable of transforming liquefied natural gas (LNG) into gas through a multi-stage process:the liquefied gas is transported in one-man ships temperature of -162°C, necessary to guarantee its liquid state and is then converted back into gas through a controlled heating process, carried out inside a vaporizer.Heating occurs by passing liquefied natural gas through pipes immersed in sea water, which have a higher temperature.It is for this reason that the facilities are found on the coast or at sea a short distance from the coast (offshore platforms).

How much our country misses

To date, Italy has replaced i 29 billion cubic meters per year of gas it took from Russia with 18 billion of gas coming from other countries, with the use of renewables and with the commissioning of coal-fired power plants at full capacity. 11 billion are still missing of cubic metres, which would be almost completely covered by two new plants:in fact two ships, already purchased by Snam (the main European operator in the transport and storage of natural gas) to be positioned off the coast of Piombino and Ravenna and to be decommissioned after 3 years.In addition, of course, to the three plants already active in Panigaglia, in the province of La Spezia, in the waters of Porto Vigo, in the province of Rovigo, and off the coast of Livorno.But then why do many people, especially environmentalists and associations from the territories concerned, not want these ships?

The protests of the communities of Piombino 

The most striking case is that of Piombino, where the first of the two new regasifiers should be located.According to the four local committees that were formed against the work and also activated a petition on Change.org, there are critical issues that are so significant that they cannot be accepted.In fact “there are many possible risks:hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of liquefied gas which, once returned to its gaseous state, increases its volume up to 600 times”.

Furthermore, the ship "will have an inevitable impact on the environment:the heat exchange at the basis of the regasification process involves the use of sea water and this will lead to the release into the sea of ​​large quantities of cold chlorinated water and foams in a gulf with poor circulation of currents, with consequences on the ecosystem and marine fauna".Finally "we ask ourselves what the safety zone could be for the port of Piombino, considering the intense maritime traffic and the contiguity of the quay with the mainland".

But it's not just this.In fact, the institutions would like to carry out the work without carrying out the usual procedures environmental impact assessment, which is done before each work, for urgent matters.Furthermore, the committees explain, the methane tankers that approach the regasification ships could interfere with tourist traffic, such as the Elba ferry.And, finally, the regasifier could interfere with fish farming activities.

How much does liquefied gas cost us 

Then there is the economic question.And geopolitics.And environmental. As the Institute for International Political Studies reminds us, from an energy point of view, Europe is increasingly shifting its dependence from Russia to the United States, where a large part of the liquefied gas comes and will come from: the agreement signed between the European Commission and the White House in fact, it foresees that Europe will purchase at least 50 billion cubic meters per year until 2030.

 

But apart from the fact that the US has been accused of extracting its own gas in Alaska using the fracking (the controversial practice of drilling into the ground until reaching natural gas deposits, accused of polluting aquifers and creating earthquakes), the greater reliability of the new partner also corresponds to a higher price.

Because of the double transformation process from a gaseous state to a liquid and then again from a liquid to a gaseous state, and for transport by ship, LNG costs much more than Russian gas.In December 2021, before the explosion of the gas bubble, the price of American LNG was 415.3 dollars per thousand cubic meters of gas, or 34.4 euros per megawatt hour;that of the gas supplied does Gazprom through the pipelines was 273 dollars, i.e 22 euros per megawatt hour.This may be why the CEO of Eni Claudio Descalzi, again yesterday you said that "the winter of 2023-2024 will be the most expensive"?So, given the need to free ourselves from the dangerous dependence on Russia, why not invest in renewables instead?

Also because the cost is not only economic, there is also an environmental one:according to a report conducted by the Carbon 4 Study Center on French energy supply in 2019, the carbon footprint of LNG was 2.5 times higher to that of gas transported via pipeline.There is nothing to suggest that in Italy the impact could be less.Not to mention that liquefied natural gas, as an impact on the climate effect, it's not much better than coal.

The deadline is October 27th 

Yet, despite the protests (the last one on 9 October in Piombino), the project goes ahead:it was held on October 13th

 

an important meeting between all competent ministries (ecological transition, economic development, infrastructure), Higher Institute of Health, Ministry of Economic Development, Ispra together with the Archaeological, Fine Arts and Landscape Superintendency of the provinces of Pisa and Livorno, the basin authority and the Livorno customs office.

Then the last meeting of the services conference is on October 21st, and finally by the 27th Eugenio Giani, at the same time president of the Tuscany Region and commissioner for the regasification terminal, will have to express the final opinion on the work.“I think that morally asking us this are the Italians who pay increasingly exorbitant bills – Giani said yesterday, after Cingolani's words – Companies that are seeing more and more difficulties with the energy crisis we are experiencing, and in general common sense on fact that Italy must also find greater self-sufficiency and the two regasification ships in Ravenna and Piombino.We all realize how important it is to be able to activate them as soon as possible."The ending, therefore, seems obvious.