INTERVIEW - Dutch Seek LNG Ties To Boost Energy Independence
Date: 10-Nov-08
Country: THE NETHERLANDS
Author: Catherine Hornby
Economy Minister Maria van der Hoeven said Western Europe's No. 3 gas producer was looking at gas cooled to its liquid form and the Nabucco pipeline project, which would bring central Asian gas to Europe, for future sources of gas as its own resources diminish.
"We are very interested in getting LNG from, for instance, Qatar, Algeria, Angola and Egypt, that is why we are building an LNG terminal now in Rotterdam harbour," Van der Hoeven said in an interview late on Thursday.
"What we are investing in at the moment is good contacts with gas exporting countries."
Dutch oil storage firm Vopak and pipeline operator Gasunie are building the Gate LNG terminal in Rotterdam, which is expected to be fully operational in 2011, and a couple of other LNG projects are planned in Dutch ports.
Van der Hoeven said that LNG supplies would help the country confirm itself as an energy hub in northwestern Europe, and increase its bargaining position in supply negotiations.
"It's very important for us to use our geographic position to find new ways to be a bit more independent from, for instance, OPEC countries or Russia. If you have a position of your own it is much easier to negotiate."
The Netherlands, Western Europe's third biggest natural gas producer after Norway and Britain, would be able to use its exhausted fields for gas storage and its pipeline network to continue to export gas across the continent.
Van der Hoeven said an economic slowdown would not deter the country's renewable energy investments but efforts would need to speed up if it wants to meet its targets for 2020.
The Dutch government wants renewable energy such as wind power to make up 20 percent of total energy consumption in 2020 compared with 2 to 3 percent in 2007. The European Union has set the Netherlands a goal of 14 percent for the same time period.
"We can't afford to stop investing in renewables just because we have a financial crisis at the moment," she said.
MORE INDEPENDENT
"We are investing in renewables because we want to be more independent from fossil fuels and we want to solve some climate problems, and these two things are not going to change."
The Netherlands is particularly vulnerable to climate change causing a rise in the oceans as a quarter of its land lies below sea level and it is on the flood plains of three big rivers.
Van der Hoeven said the country was investing in onshore and offshore wind, solar power and biomass, and was also investigating other alternative energy sources such as algae.
She also said that though the Dutch government had agreed that no new nuclear plants would be built during its mandate, it was still making preparations so that future governments would be able to consider nuclear energy as a viable option.
Bowing to pressure from environmentalists and the wider public, Dutch authorities have phased out all nuclear power stations except for one in Borssele, which is due to stay operational until 2033.
But the country's nuclear debate was revived recently after Dutch utility Delta said it planned to request a permit for a nuclear plant, and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said a possible request would be taken into consideration.
Van der Hoeven said the government had allocated potential sites for future nuclear plants as part of its preparations, which included Borssele, where the existing plant is situated, as well as the Maasvlakte in Rotterdam port and Eemshaven.
(Reporting by Catherine Hornby, editing by Anthony Barker)