Because Germany will also get gas in Africa
All the recent moves by the German government in Africa to try to partially replace Russia's gas
After Draghi, Chancellor Olaf Scholz also went to Africa to ensure Germany new gas supplies, with the aim of canceling, at least in part, the strong German dependence on Russian gas. Not only. In Senegal, Scholz announced that Germany intends to make some African countries, governed by democracies, the preferred partners for the production of green hydrogen, an activity favored in Africa by the sun and the vastness of the available territories, since green hydrogen is considered the energy source of the future. The Scholz plan has several points in common with that of the Draghi government and is in line with the EU program for decarbonisation and green hydrogen, announced by Franz Timmermans, vice president of the EU Commission, a few days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. . However, it remains to be seen who will be able to move from words to deeds.
Scholz's energy shopping started last Sunday in Senegal, a country that currently holds the presidency of the African Union and has vast reserves of natural gas, jointly owned with the Mauritanian government.
The largest of these reserves is the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim field, estimated at 420 billion cubic meters of gas, managed by British BP, which invested $ 4.8 billion in it. Its production will start in the first months of next year, with an export capacity of 3.5 billion cubic meters, mostly destined for Europe. According to initial estimates, Senegal's gas could replace 7% of Germany's Russian gas imports.
It may seem little, but it is only the beginning of a process destined to grow. Senegal is in third place, behind Nigeria and Algeria, in the ranking of African countries with the largest natural gas reserves, and far exceeds the reserves of Mozambique, Tanzania, Egypt, Libya, Angola and Congo. All countries that Europe is courting, including Italy, to get out of dependence on Russian gas. In the press conference held after the trade agreements, Scholz invited the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, to the G7 that will be hosted by Germany in June, as a first step in close cooperation between the two countries in the field of energy. The purchase of natural gas, explained Scholz, is only a first step, which will be followed by those necessary to promote the alliance between German and Senegalese companies for the production of green hydrogen, a project in which Senegal is very interested. As are other African countries, where the sun abounds and the large spaces necessary for the installation of the solar panels necessary to produce green hydrogen.
Among these, Scholz pointed to South Africa, inviting President Cyril Ramaphosa to the G7 in June. The aim, he specified, is to help the South African economy become a player in green hydrogen: an epochal change if we consider that today 70% of South Africa's electricity is generated by coal-fired power plants, a fossil source of which that country is among the largest exporters in the world. In 2021, recalls Euractiv, South Africa was promised $ 8.5 billion from the US, the UK, Germany and France as a contribution to "a partnership for a just energy transition", or rather for the gradual elimination of coal by 2040. "The Germany has experience on how to switch from fossil fuels to green hydrogen, and we want to participate in this know-how, ”said South African minister Naledi Pandor.
It goes without saying that this enthusiasm for green hydrogen to be produced in Africa was reinforced by Putin's aggression against Ukraine. In fact, when Timmermans launched the EU plan to make Africa "a world champion in the production and export of green hydrogen" it was February 14, the day on which the seventh EU-Africa Business Forum was held in Brussels. At the time it seemed just one of the many European projects, high-sounding in words, but always slow to implement, not to mention inconclusive. A routine that the war in Ukraine has transformed into an appeal by European leaders to those who do first in making agreements with African countries to buy gas immediately, and green hydrogen tomorrow.
In this, Italy was the fastest. At the beginning of April Draghi signed an agreement with Algeria to have an additional 9 billion cubic meters of gas starting next year. Today Algeria, with 31%, is our second gas supplier, after Russia (43%). Another 6.5 billion cubic meters were then negotiated by ministers Di Maio and Cingolani with Congo (5 billion) and Angola (1.5 billion), in addition to the 3 billion obtained by Egypt.
Other supplies are expected from Mozambique and Azerbaijan. The goal is to increase supplies both through gas pipelines and by ship with LNG, by upgrading the terminals. All this, explained Draghi, is redesigning the interconnections today for gas, tomorrow for green hydrogen: «There is a concrete possibility that the Mediterranean countries can become energy hubs for the whole of Europe. We are entering a strategic phase of energy policies that is completely different from the past ».
The unknowns why this happens, however, are not few. Some experts argue that Germany and Italy will fail to become independent of Russian gas by the end of 2024, if not partially.
A forecast by no means risky. Germany depends on Russian gas (53%) more than Italy, and shows no hurry to deprive itself of it, which would cause the German industrial apparatus to collapse. Even if he does not say it openly, underneath Italy he is of the same opinion. And the EU fails to approve even the embargo on Russian oil, shielding itself with the no of little Hungary, a hypocrisy that suits many. And that the EU can impose an embargo on Russian gas, as Ukraine is asking, nobody believes: most of them hope that the war will end before Brussels can decide something.
Article published on italiaoggi.it
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/perche-anche-la-germania-si-gasera-in-africa/ on Sat, 28 May 2022 05:50:44 +0000.