Ryan mulls Green policy U-turn on commercial LNG terminal9 Apr 2023 13:48
Also from Swiss on BEY : good cross over for EOG & PDR. GLA, DB
https://www.businesspost.ie/news/ryan-mulls-green-policy-u-turn-on-commercial-lng-terminal/
Government under growing pressure to accept need for commercial liquified natural gas import terminal as concerns grow over security of supply
Eamon Ryan has conceded that Ireland may need to build a liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal, reversing a key Green Party policy, because the “world changed” when the Nord Stream gas pipelines were blown up last year
The Business Post understands that the government is under growing pressure to accept the need for a commercial LNG import terminal despite Ryan having previously ruled this out
Ryan’s department is due to publish a new energy security review in the coming weeks
This newspaper has also learned that the Irish government is about to sign a new contract with the British government on gas supply, due to concerns over Ireland’s over-reliance on the UK for most of its gas imports
Ireland imports approximately 80 per cent of its gas needs from the UK through the Moffat interconnector with Scotland
Ryan, the Green Party leader and Minister for the Environment, previously ruled out commercial LNG, instead promoting the idea of a “State-led” gas import or storage facility that would be non-commercial in nature and would act only as a back-up in the event of an emergency gas shortage scenario
However, it is understood that this model has been deemed unviable by many experts who contributed to the energy security review public consultation
This is due to the large capital cost for the State to build or rent a back-up LNG facility that would have no commercial returns, and the need to sign advance commercial contracts to guarantee the availability of LNG from other countries to fill it
The approval of commercial LNG would be a significant policy departure for the Greens and would likely cause yet another rift in the party
Asked if commercial LNG would have to be built in Ireland in the years ahead, Ryan said that was for the new energy security review to consider
“The world changed a year ago when those Nord Stream gas pipelines were blown up in the Baltic [Sea]. The concern about energy security and particularly gas pipelines was heightened. So we do need a form of storage and an alternative gas supply route and gas supply source so that, should anything happen, we have some protection. We can’t protect against everything, but we do have a security issue there we have to address,” Ryan said.
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