Flexibility tools have to be offered by European LNG terminal operators in order to boost the competitiveness and the utilization of LNG infrastructure in Europe.
Speaking at an event in Italy, Adriatic LNG’s commercial manager Corrado Papa , said, “at the moment, in Europe, the infrastructures with the highest utilization rates are essentially those with capacity exempted from the third-party access and based on long-term contracts.”
He noted that in the case of the Adriatic LNG terminal, whose exempted capacity, equal to 80 percent of the total capacity, is allocated to an energy player.
The facility had a utilization rate of 82.5 percent in 2017, however, the utilization rates across European regasification terminals averaged about 22 percent, Papa said quoting GLE.
“In a constantly evolving market such as that of LNG, it is essential that companies are able to renew themselves, adapting their offer to the needs of customers,” he added.
The peak shaving, flexibility and temporary storage services that Adriatic LNG has implemented in recent years have shown to contribute effectively to the security and balancing of the gas market, Papa said.
Natural gas will play a primary role in the decarbonization process, Papa said in his speech, noting the National Energy Strategy (SEN) adopted by the Italian Ministries of Economic Development and the Environment at the end of 2017 considers gas a key resource in the energy security of the country and promotes the increase of the use of liquefied natural gas.