Austria plans to expand renewable energy production and increase gas imports from Africa to avoid becoming too dependent on U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), the country’s state secretary for energy told Reuters on Wednesday.
European nations are trying to keep electricity prices affordable as the European Union moves to phase out Russian gas by 2027 in response to Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
At the same time, several governments are concerned about replacing one energy dependency with another under U.S. President Donald Trump.
“The U.S. is not predictable in these times, so for Austria we are really looking closely to ensure we have LNG from different sources,” said Elisabeth Zehetner, Austria’s state secretary for energy.
Zehetner is attending a meeting in Paris with ministers from 38 OECD countries to discuss energy security at a gathering of the International Energy Agency.
She said Austria stopped importing Russian gas at the start of last year but now faces a similar issue with LNG.
“Since the beginning of last year, we do not import any Russian gas, but we face now the same topic with LNG. And if more than 40% of Europe’s LNG imports are coming only from the U.S., we have to ask ourselves if we have not exchanged one dependency for another,” she said.
On Tuesday, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright criticised the IEA’s focus on renewable energy and climate policies and encouraged Europe to buy more U.S. LNG, which he said would be available at low prices.
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However, Zehetner said that during Wednesday’s first session, most ministers confirmed their commitment to expanding renewable energy because it is produced locally and is cheaper to generate, while acknowledging that natural gas remains important for ensuring a stable energy supply.
“Domestic generation is more reliable than any kind of imports … but we know we will still be dependent on gas for many decades to come. The question is how we live with these dependencies,” Zehetner said.
Austria is looking to increase gas imports from Africa through the Transmed pipeline, which connects to Italy, and from Romania’s Neptun Deep gas field in the Black Sea.
The field is being developed by Austrian energy company OMV and is expected to begin production next year. Austria already imports gas from Norway, the United States and Qatar.
When asked whether Austria might return to Russian gas in the future, Zehetner said the country would prefer to purchase renewable energy from Ukraine.
She added that if a peace agreement acceptable to Kyiv is reached, some Russian gas could be reconsidered.
“Concerning the role of Russia … we have learned our lesson, so we do not want to be dependent on anyone,” she said.
Later on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the state secretary clarified that Austria is not seeking to resume Russian gas imports and is following EU rules to phase them out.
“In a hypothetical post-war scenario — contingent on a peace agreement accepted by Kyiv — Europe might reassess the overall geopolitical and energy framework,” the spokesperson said.
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