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Belgium’s energy minister has urged the European Union to end its dependence on fossil fuels and thereby curb imports of Russian gas. A previous report showed that Belgium is one of the world’s largest recipients of LNG thanks to its status as a transport hub.
Tinne Van der Straeten told the Financial Times it was “absolutely necessary” for the EU to achieve its goal of weaning itself off Russia’s fossil fuels by 2027 to prevent being “held hostage” by Moscow.
The European Union will import a record amount of LNG from Russia this year, according to data analyzed by non-governmental organization Global Witness, as part of its efforts to diversify away from pipeline supplies, which have been steadily cutting pipelines after cutting them across the board. supply. There was a massive invasion of Ukraine last February.
Belgium is the world’s third-largest importer of Russian LNG, accounting for 17 percent of the country’s fuel exports, after China and Spain, Global Witness said.
Russia has become the EU’s second-biggest supplier of LNG after the United States, with exports accounting for 16% of EU supplies from January to July, according to industry data firm Kpler.
Van der Straten said she was “not happy with the fact that Russian LNG is still flowing into the EU via Belgium”. She noted that only 2.8% of imported products went to Belgian consumers, while the rest were transshipped to other countries.
The Belgian Port of Zeebrugge is a major hub for LNG transshipment. Germany and the Netherlands are among the countries importing fuel from Belgium, van der Straten said.
The level of Russian LNG imports has raised questions about whether Brussels should impose sanctions on the fuel, as it has done on Russian crude and certain petroleum products. EU officials say this could be discussed in the future, but more work needs to be done to find alternative sources of energy.
EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said in March that the bloc “should move away from Russian gas completely as soon as possible, while still keeping our security of supply in mind”.
Van der Stratten said Belgium supported sanctions on fuel. But she added that such a move was unlikely because it would require the support of all EU countries.
“The most effective thing we can do . . . is to wean ourselves off fossil fuels in general and make sure . . . we can control our own energy,” she said.
The green politician was speaking ahead of the opening of the EU’s first large-scale thermal battery installation in Belgium, a method of capturing heat from solar energy and storing it for on-demand use rather than relying on the weather.
The project for adhesives manufacturer Avery Dennison’s plant in Turnhout, Belgium, is partly funded by the Flemish regional government and Brussels. This will reduce natural gas use at the company’s plants by an average of 9% per year, the company said. It can completely replace natural gas in the hottest months.
The technology is seen as a way for heavy industrial users to reduce fossil fuel use without relying on more expensive systems such as renewable hydrogen or carbon capture that require larger infrastructure networks.
“Depending on where you are, this can already be (cost) competitive with natural gas,” said Christian Thiel, chief executive of Energynest, the Norwegian company that designed the project.
Thermal battery projects are also being established in the United States. Mining company Rio Tinto and oil producer Saudi Aramco recently invested $60 million in funding in California start-up Rondo Energy, which is experimenting with its own thermal battery technology.
Avery Dennison and Energynest did not disclose the overall investment in the Belgian project, but said the European Union had provided 1.43 million euros in funding to support 70% of the thermal battery components.
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