Evangelos Mytilineos, chairman and chief executive of Mytilineos Energy & Metals, warned Wednesday that Europe could face a severe natural gas shortage and soaring energy costs if the crisis in the Gulf and disruption risks around the Strait of Hormuz persist for months.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the \u201cEnergy Transition Summit: East Med & Southeast Europe\u201d in Athens, organized by the Financial Times in partnership with Kathimerini, Mytilineos said energy markets were underestimating the potential long-term consequences of the conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day that passes makes the situation more and more difficult,\u201d Mytilineos said during an interview with Financial Times Europe editor Ben Hall.<\/p>\n
The Greek industrialist said the conflict was having contradictory effects on his company, which is both a major energy producer and one of Greece\u2019s largest industrial energy consumers through its aluminum operations.<\/p>\n
On one hand, aluminum prices have surged because a significant share of global aluminum production is concentrated in Gulf countries where energy costs are low. On the other, rising natural gas prices have sharply increased operating costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen prices go up by about 40% to 50%,\u201d he said of natural gas. \u201cIt\u2019s pushing up our costs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mytilineos said the company had hedged much of its gas exposure through 2027, partly due to concerns over delays in filling Europe\u2019s gas storage facilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, at the moment, this is the biggest danger for Europe,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are late.\u201d<\/p>\n
He warned that if Asian demand increases and liquefied natural gas cargoes are redirected toward Asian markets, Europe may be forced to pay significantly higher prices for supplies ahead of winter.<\/p>\n
Despite the tensions, Mytilineos said gas markets remained relatively calm because traders expect the Gulf crisis to end quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe markets are now betting for time,\u201d he said, arguing investors believe US President Donald Trump, ahead of the midterm elections, will eventually declare the crisis resolved and restore stability to shipping routes.<\/p>\n
Still, he said a prolonged disruption lasting several months remained \u201ca possible scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mytilineos said Europe has become heavily dependent on LNG imports from the United States following the reduction of Russian gas supplies, noting that eight out of every 10 LNG cargoes used by his company originate in the US.<\/p>\n
Asked whether Europe risked replacing dependence on Russian gas with reliance on American suppliers, he described the issue as \u201ca very heavy political question.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the US ever uses gas as a tool vis-a-vis Europe or against Europe, then there are much bigger issues than gas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
On Europe\u2019s energy transition, Mytilineos argued the current geopolitical instability could accelerate investment in renewable energy and storage technologies, though primarily for energy security rather than climate reasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new wave of the energy transition \u2026 is not for decarbonization,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s mostly for security of supply.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed to countries in Southeast Asia suffering prolonged power cuts because they can no longer afford imported gas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey now understand that they have to do something not to be dependent on anyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Mytilineos cautioned that renewable energy alone cannot yet provide reliable around-the-clock power because battery technology remains insufficient for large-scale overnight storage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe $1 million question is what to do during nighttime,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He announced that his company would begin operating Greece\u2019s largest battery storage facility next month, a 330-megawatt installation in central Greece, but noted that current systems still provide only limited-duration storage.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil technology gives us affordable six-, eight-, 10-hour batteries, we depend on fossil fuels for about half of the day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mytilineos also criticized what he described as an ideological approach within parts of the European Union toward decarbonization and heavy industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all believe in green energy. We all believe in decarbonization,\u201d he said. \u201cBut this cannot happen next Monday. It\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recalling a conversation with a European commissioner roughly a decade ago, he said industrial companies had long felt unwelcome in Europe\u2019s policy direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe told me, \u2018That\u2019s exactly what you wanted to do \u2013 get out of here. Europe is entering a different phase. We do not need your heavy industries anymore,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The executive also questioned the EU\u2019s plan to phase out Russian gas imports entirely by the end of the decade, warning Europe could face difficult choices if the Gulf conflict drags on while gas storage remains low.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we get six months from now with a storage problem, what do we do?\u201d he said. \u201cAnd how do we go back to Russia and ask for gas?\u201d<\/p>\n
On nuclear energy, Mytilineos said small modular reactors \u2013 a prospect already publicly embraced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis \u2013 could eventually help provide stable low-carbon electricity during periods when renewable generation is insufficient, though he said the technology was not yet commercially or operationally mature.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn principle, I do not object,\u201d he said. \u201cI would be interested \u2026 to participate in a project like this, but maybe it\u2019s a little early yet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Evangelos Mytilineos, chairman and chief executive of Mytilineos Energy & Metals, warned Wednesday that Europe could face a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[635,603,88,26179,4,2811,98,46,16],"class_list":{"0":"post-40696","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-europe","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-energy","11":"tag-energy-transition-summit","12":"tag-europe","13":"tag-foreign-affairs","14":"tag-industry","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-russia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}