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by the end of the decade. However, the country has an excellent base of its own – the Severnoye field (which forms a single geological formation with Iran’s South Pars and is the largest gas reservoir on the planet). Therefore, the country has no particular need to import Iranian raw materials.
LNG Projects: In these circumstances, the fourth option comes to the fore - the implementation of Iran's own LNG projects, possibly with the technological and financial participation of Russia. In total, eight LNG plants were planned to be built in the country, but the main hopes were pinned on three projects: Persian LNG (16.2 million tons per year, jointly with Shell), Iran LNG (10.8 million tons) and Pars LNG (10 million tons per year, jointly with Total). However, after the resumption of US sanctions (in 2018), all of them were frozen. But Tehran did not abandon its plans - in 2022, it was announced that work on Iran LNG would continue. The media then wrote that this announcement coincided with the visit of a Gazprom delegation to Iran, and suggested that the Russian side expressed its readiness to help complete the long-term construction project.
Today, such plans would look even more appropriate. Russia, which has also faced sanctions against its LNG industry, is forced to look for ways to solve technological, financial and logistical problems. And cooperation with Iran, which already has vast experience in overcoming sanctions restrictions, would not be superfluous here. In the future, gas produced at fields jointly developed by Gazprom and NIOC could also serve as raw material for LNG projects.
It is in the LNG sector that the most promising and long-term opportunities for cooperation between Moscow and Iran are seen.
2.12 China wiping the floor with the US in solar technology
Construction of US solar-manufacturing plants by Chinese companies is surging, positioning China to dominate the emerging industry as American factories struggle to compete despite federal subsidies.
As bne IntelliNews has reported, China is becoming the global green energy champion vastly out-producing everyone else. At the same time the US is lagging behind and has already used up all of its carbon budget, the amount of emissions a country is allowed to produce if there is to be a 50% chance of staying under a 1.5C temperature increase as agreed in the Paris Agreements in 2015.
Chinese companies are expected to have at least 20 gigawatts of annual solar panel production capacity on US soil within the next year, according to a Reuters analysis of corporate statements, government documents, and interviews with eight companies and researchers. This capacity would be sufficient to serve about half of the US market.
The group includes seven companies backed by Chinese firms, namely Jinko Solar (JKS.N), Trina Solar (688599.SS), JA Solar (002459.SZ), Longi (601012.SS), Hounen, Runergy, and Boviet, according to the analysis.
37 RUSSIA Country Report August 2024 www.intellinews.com