The danger of an acute gas emergency in Italy has not been averted. In Piombino, Tuscany, an LNG terminal is becoming a bone of contention. The far-right mayor wants to see his town spared. His party is one of the favorites in September’s parliamentary elections.
In Italy’s election campaign, a planned liquid gas terminal in Tuscany is becoming a major issue. The gas network operator Snam plans to place the ship “Golar Tundra” in the port of the city of Piombino and to convert liquefied natural gas (LNG) delivered from spring 2023 and feed it into the networks. “The election of Piombino is absolutely wrong,” said Mayor Francesco Ferrari in an interview with the newspaper “La Repubblica”. He belongs to the far-right Fratelli d’Italia (FdI) party, which is currently in the lead in the September 25 parliamentary elections.
Ferrari stressed that his party was basically in favor of LNG terminals. But he must protect his community. The day before, Ferrari’s party colleague Ignazio La Russa caused additional confusion in an interview when he said that the Fratelli are in favor of the gas liquefaction plant in Piombino and that you can’t always talk yourself out of it with “yes, but not on my doorstep”.
Other parties joined the debate. Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi from the small center party Italia Viva criticized the fact that the Fratelli mayor in Piombino was still against the gas liquefier despite the energy crisis. Italy needs the LNG terminal, which Snam says can cover 6.5 percent of the country’s gas needs. Before the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the Mediterranean country was dependent on gas from Moscow and looked for new suppliers in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Part of the gas therefore comes in liquid form by ship instead of through the pipeline, which is why the “Golar Tundra” is necessary.
A demonstration is planned in Piombino on Saturday evening. The opponents in the small town shaped by the steel industry see the plant as an incalculable risk for their security, economy and tourism.
Only on Thursday was it said that Italy initially wanted to do without gas rationing. The country has sufficiently reduced its dependence on Russian gas, officials said. Thanks to efforts to find alternative suppliers, the share of imported Russian gas was reduced to about 18 percent this summer. In 2021 the rate was still 40 percent. Nevertheless, the Italian gas emergency plan must be updated next week. “The new plan contains various scenarios, even the worst, and provides for tougher measures in the event of a further reduction in gas supplies,” it said in Rome.