2023-04-17 17:12:42
Spanish gas exports to Morocco have increased exponentially since June 2022. Figures show that the volume of exports has continued to increase gradually over the months. Indeed, Morocco is in the process of making Spain a gas exporting country thanks to the recent resumption of the Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline (GME) in reverse flow, on June 28, 2022. Since then, the quantities of gas previously purchased by Morocco on international markets and unloaded in Spanish regasification plants have experienced a sharp increase.
According to data provided by the manager Enagás, this exponential growth has been palpable since June 2022. In fact, in that month the country exported 60 gigawatt hours through the international interconnection of Tarifa, while in March 2023 this figure increased dramatically to 820 gigawatt hours.
The upward trend in Spanish gas exports continued gradually over the months. The figures show that the export volume reached 172 gigawatt hours in July, 119 gigawatt hours in August, 123 gigawatt hours in September, 328 gigawatt hours in October, 553 gigawatt hours in November, 527 gigawatt hours in December, 536 gigawatt hours in January and 680 gigawatt hours in February.
According to the Spanish newspaper The Objective, one of the factors that has contributed to stimulating the demand for Spanish gas to Rabat in recent months is due to the mechanism put in place by Madrid. This mechanism made the price of Spanish gas much more competitive, which encouraged Morocco to import more gas via Spain.
The Kingdom is considered an additional buyer in Spanish territory, so financing under the Iberian exception is applied to it as if it were a national consumer.
Morocco therefore has the possibility to decide when it wishes to import gas from Spain according to the evolution of the market and its energy needs. This flexibility thus makes it possible to reduce gas supply costs.
Note that liquefied gas has a higher price because it requires special infrastructure to compress the gas into liquid to facilitate its cheap freight transportation. It also requires a special infrastructure to regasify it, which Spain has.
The Spanish government recently revealed, in an answer to a written question posed by deputies of the Popular Party, that the regasification of quantities of gas purchased by Morocco should bring Spain around 2 million euros per year. However, this figure does not take into account the additional costs linked to the unloading of ships, the storage of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the use of the transport network.
The use of the Maghreb gas pipeline by Spain for the benefit of Morocco has led to a complaint by Algeria to the Spanish authorities. Faced with questions from deputies of the Popular Party on the origin of the gas regasified on behalf of Morocco, the Spanish government replied that the marketing company was free to choose the source of its exported gas, while emphasizing that the manager of the technical system, dependent on Enagás, had the responsibility of verifying its origin for greater certainty.
The activation of the reverse flow GME had a significant impact on the activities of the Tahaddart and Aïn Béni Mathar power plants which had been forced to shut down for more than a year due to Algeria’s decision to shut it down. close unilaterally.
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