Gas treatment and transportation complex. File photoMOSCOW, Apr 27Torben Brabo, CEO of the Danish Gas Transportation System (GTS) operator and Chairman of the Association of Gas Infrastructure Operators of Europe (GIE), said in an interview with Euractiv that the European Commission's scenarios for replacing gas from Russia are perhaps more optimistic than they actually are, every billion cubic meters. «The figures presented by the European Commission in the REPowerEU plan may not be completely correct. If you look at Russian exports, LNG supplies, biomethane forecasts, they are all quite optimistic,» he noted. On March 8, the European Commission proposed to develop a special plan to reduce demand for Russian gas by two-thirds this year. The commission said the so-called REPowerEU plan would aim to diversify gas supplies, accelerate the deployment of renewables and replace gas in heat and power generation. European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans admitted that cutting the EU's need for Russian gas by two-thirds would be «damn difficult» but possible. According to Brabo, the EU will not be able to buy as much LNG as REPowerEU envisages. He believes that the target can be reached by half, but more than that seems to be a challenge.Bulgaria announced the cessation of Russian gas supplies from April 27 «In the United States, for example, there is no liquefaction capacity needed to supply the additional 15 billion cubic meters they are talking about. As for Qatar and Middle Eastern producers, their production volume has already been sold to other consumers» , Brabo added. According to him, the EC recommended that infrastructure companies consider a scenario in which they will have to do without Russian gas next winter. According to Brabo, each country has groups of protected and unprotected gas consumers. The priority is the heating of residential premises, schools, hospitals and social services. If gas supplies from Russia are stopped now, some countries may stop supplying gas to production in the summer in order to ensure supplies for protected consumers in the winter. A number of states also provide for interruptions in the supply of protected consumers. The Netherlands, Germany and Italy are analyzing the possibility of increasing gas production in the North and Mediterranean seas. Although these projects will bring relatively little gas, every billion cubic meters counts, Brabo said. He also calls for less gas consumption. «I lowered the temperature (at home) by 12 degrees. My family complained, but … we all need to consume energy more efficiently,» said Brabo. jpg» />Analyst explains why Germany can't survive without Russian gas
