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A first in France which worries. A floating LNG terminal should see the light of day by September 2023 in Le Havre (Seine-Maritime) in order to transport gas to France. A measure of “energy sovereignty” voted by the National Assembly in first reading of the purchasing power bill, Friday, July 22, but which makes green deputies jump. Franceinfo answers four questions about this highly criticized project.
1What will this floating LNG terminal be used for?
The purpose of the Le Havre floating LNG terminal is to diversify France’s gas supply sources in the face of the Russian threat to close the hydrocarbon tap. It will allow the gas imported by sea to pass from the liquid state to the gaseous state, in order to then inject it into the French distribution network, explains France 3.
For the time being, France has four onshore LNG terminals, which allow the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG): two at Fos-sur-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône), one at Montoir-de-Bretagne (Loire -Atlantique) and another in Dunkirk (North). The advantage of a terminal on the water rather than on land? Its installation can be temporary and it can be moved if necessary.
2What does the bill voted by the National Assembly provide for?
To accelerate the deployment of this terminal, the bill introduces exemptions to the Environmental Code. The text thus provides for the “possibility of an environmental assessment exemption” of this project, which will be operated by TotalEnergies, and “carry out part of the work in advance, without waiting for the authorization of the whole project”. A socialist amendment has however limited the duration of operation of this terminal to five years and any renewal will have to pass “by the law”. The text still needs to be approved by the Senate.
The Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, justified these measures by the need to “prepare for the worst-case scenario. “We are in a race against time to secure our energy supplies for next winter”, she defended Monday in the National Assembly. According to her, the floating LNG carrier project is “necessary to replace Russian gas”. The executive ensures that the course of carbon neutrality by 2050 has not changed. “I want to reaffirm the government’s climate ambition”hammered Agnès Pannier-Runacher, who reiterated her desire to “liberate the French from fossil fuels”.
3Why is the project criticized by the left and environmentalists?
“It is not by giving ourselves the means to import more fossil fuels that we will get out of it!” immediately denounced Greenpeace France. The Friends of the Earth federation, for its part, accuses the deputies of having voted “in defiance of the climate; against environmental law; by creating new dependencies; by ignoring alternatives”.
Last night, the deputies voted for the accelerated establishment of a new gas terminal in Le Havre:
regardless of the weather
against environmental law
by creating new dependencies
ignoring alternatives⬇️
— Friends of the Earth FR (@amisdelaterre) July 22, 2022
Unsurprisingly, leftist MPs were also up in arms against this proposal. “I am appalled to have to, with my colleagues, fight against the revival of fossil fuels”declared the deputy LFI Aurélie Trouvou at the Assembly. “You are sitting on the Environmental Code on the sly”added his colleague Clémentine Autain.
LNG terminal off Le Havre: “You are sitting on the environmental code on the sly”, laments @Clem_Autain.#PJLPurchasing power #DirectAN pic.twitter.com/KXe3xW3BxQ
—LCP (@LCP) July 21, 2022
The rapporteur for the law, Maud Bregeon, defended herself by questioning the deputies of Nupes: “Are you going to go see the 12 million French households who heat themselves with gas to explain to them that next winter, you are putting them at risk on their supply?” she launched into the hemicycle.
.@MaudBregeon challenges the LFI deputies and environmentalists: “Are you going to go see the 12 million French households who heat themselves with gas to explain to them that next winter you are putting them at risk on their supply?” #PJLPurchasing power #DirectAN pic.twitter.com/HxJS3GEKTA
—LCP (@LCP) July 21, 2022
4Does the Le Havre terminal open the door to American shale gas?
This is the main fear of environmentalists. “The extension of this terminal indeed opens the door to the import of American shale gas”, writes Greenpeace. In France, its extraction is prohibited. “Part of the imported gas will be produced in the United States, where the exploitation of shale gas by the technique of hydraulic fracturing is authorized.explains the energy manager of the Climate Action Network, Zélie Victor.
The risk is very real. In the United States, shale gas is mixed with gas exploited using conventional processes. The Ministry of Energy Transition therefore confirms to franceinfo that it will be impossible to ensure that France does not import shale gas via the Le Havre terminal.
“It’s something that we have banned on our territory, and that we are going to import when we know that it is disastrous for the environment”, regret Zelie Victor. Shale gas in France? Such a decision is “suicidal”thundered the Green MP Delphine Batho.
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