Slovenian natural gas supplier Geoplin signed a natural gas supply contract with Algeria’s state- owned energy company Sonatrach.
The three-year contract includes the purchase of about 300 million cubic meters of natural gas per year, which is about a third of Slovenia’s current annual consumption. The Algerian gas will be transported to Slovenia via a pipeline running through Tunisia and Italy.
Russia supplies most of Slovenia’s natural gas, which accounts for 12 % of overall energy mix. The EU member state relies mostly on hydroelectric, thermal and nuclear power sources to meet its electricity requirements.
In 2018, Geoplin signed a five-year natural gas supply contract with Gazprom to import 600 million cubic meters of Russian natural gas per year. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced Slovenia to reconsider its energy policy and seek alternate sources such as liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Algeria is Africa’s biggest gas exporter and supplies about 11 % of the natural gas consumed in Europe.