Over the weekend, Chancellor Karl Nehammer (VP), Raw Materials Minister Elisabeth Köstinger (VP), and Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in search of alternatives to Russian gas.
They aim to gain access to hydrogen and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to wean themselves from Russian gas.
To this purpose, a memorandum of understanding was also signed with Sultan Bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE’s Minister of Industry. However, this does not indicate that the gases will be supplied to Austria any time soon. On Sunday, Chancellor Nehammer stated that no “miracles” could be expected. Austria imports 80% of its natural gas from Russia. This increases the country’s reliance on Putin’s authoritarian state beyond that of many other countries.
However, in order to utilise LNG, or liquefied natural gas, from the UAE (or elsewhere), it will also require the necessary infrastructure. LNG will be gasified back to its original state in terminals before being piped to end customers or businesses. Austria lacks an LNG terminal of its own and would have to rely on those of other EU member states. Germany and Belgium have previously expressed an interest in developing similar terminals. Spain, France, and Italy already have similar infrastructure.
A matter of transportation routes
Green hydrogen is also a challenge. This technology will be employed in the future in transportation and industry to help cut CO2 emissions – for example, in metal processing and on buses and trucks. However, Austria, like many other countries, must first develop the necessary infrastructure to obtain and distribute vast amounts of hydrogen. For instance, hydrogen may be transferred over the existing natural gas network.
OMV, which had significant business with Russia and was also a partner in Nordstream 2, will be a key player in the new energy plans. That is why OMV CEO Alfred Stern was also in attendance at the UAE meeting. Russia is still reliably delivering the agreed gas supplies to Austria.
However, for how long? A ban on Russian oil and gas imports is already being debated in the United States and Western allies – another action aimed at tightening sanctions against Russia. After all, Europe contributes more than 600 million euros per day to Russia for oil and gas supplies, so contributing to the financing of the Ukraine war. However, critics on the inside feel that an import restriction will exacerbate already-stoked inflation, which is primarily the result of higher energy prices.
