Topic of the month: Gas transportation from Russia
Shortly before Christmas, the showdown took place regarding US sanctions against Nord Stream 2 (to use the abbreviated version) as well as the negotiations for future Ukraine transit. Almost at the same time, a general agreement for the future transit was achieved and the US sanctions against Nord Stream 2 decided. This was already known and mentioned when the January edition went to print. In January, more details became known and a first impact assessment is feasible. In the following, a description of the details and the impact is provided.
1.1 Nord Stream 2 sanctions
The Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act (PEESA) very specifically stipulates sanctions against all persons that in any way provide (sell, lease, rent, let) vessels able to lay pipes in a water depth of more than 1000 inches (30 metres). And although the act allows a 30-day period to finish work, Allseas, the company that owns the two pipe-laying vessels for Nord Stream 2, withdrew the ships immediately after the act was signed by the US President. Only a few days later the company announced the complete abandonment of the project. The reason Allseas acted so promptly immediately becomes clear when one reads the letter the two Senators Ted Cruz and Ron Johnson wrote on December 18 to Edward Heerema, the Allseas CEO (Ted Cruz published the letter on his web page)...
Market rumoursNational Strategy Hydrogen
The National Strategy Hydrogen of the ministry of economics and energy (BMWi) is ready. Well, at least a draft is ready, as several sources confirm, who were able to browse through the 25 pages presented to them for some minutes by senior bureaucrats (more was not available). One important proposal is the establishment of a National Hydrogen Council. Whether the paper contains more concrete actions is not known. Openness to technology is emphasised, which means that not only green hydrogen, but also blue hydrogen is an option. At the end of January, the draft was still at the chancellery for agreement. What will come next? The minister of economics, Peter Altmaier, dealt in a very odd manner with that question during the Handelsblatt Energy Summit, an industry event on January 21. In his speech, he did not even mention the hydrogen strategy. Klaus Stratmann, a Handelsblatt journalist who moderated the conference asked him afterwards when the strategy would be approved. Mr Altmaier initially said a few days, corrected himself, and then talked of a few weeks before the agreement with the different ministries would commence. He added that the strategy would then be approved by the cabinet. At the side-lines of the conference, first participants wondered whether the strategy would ever reach the cabinet. The ministry of environment (BMU) in particular has an entirely different view to that of the BMWi regarding the future role of hydrogen and the distribution of responsibilities in the government. Allegedly, BMU is working together with a consultant on its own hydrogen strategy.
However, even the first agreements with the ministries of transportation, research and economic cooperation took longer than expected. These ministries with ministers appointed by the CDU or CSU were involved in the making of the strategy. Several sources say that in particular the ministry of research wanted a lot of changes and was not really supportive of blue hydrogen...