Devils Below

This Little Maneuver’s Gonna Cost Us 51 Years [Megaprojects] 🌍 We have already written about the idea of the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, meant to sell Nigerian gas to Europe via Algeria. One of its main problems was that between the two ends of the pipeline there is the unstable zone of northern Nigeria, Niger, and southern Algeria. So, an alternative emerged — a detour along Africa’s Atlantic coast, also known as the Nigeria–Morocco Gas Pipeline. 🇲🇦 The idea of laying the pipeline in such an elegant crescent was proposed by the King of Morocco back in 2016. Compared with the previous project, it has 3 key new features: 🔸The pipeline is planned to run along the ocean floor rather than over land; 🔸 The project is aimed at supplying a larger number of African countries; 🔸 Its implementation has actually progressed beyond mere declarations (i.e. nearing the phase of construction). 🐠 It's clear that the project’s relative success stems precisely from a broader African customer base and a lower risks. Not only does it skirt the most dangerous regions, but it also lies on the seabed — so unless fish start converting to radical Islam, politicians have little to worry about. 🔽 Still, the project — which could become the longest offshore gas pipeline in the world — faces the same question as its onshore counterpart: what about the gas in Nigeria itself? Given that the timeline stretches into the 2040s, one has to ask whether Nigeria will be able to offer enough gas by then. #Megaprojects ➡️ Follow to stay informed - @devilsbelow

What Is the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline? [ Megaprojects ] 🌍 Sometimes people like to come up with gigantic and hard-to-implement projects. They can be completely utopian, like the idea of building a massive hydroelectric plant in the Strait of Gibraltar, or theoretically feasible, like Elon Musk’s plan to launch 10,000 internet satellites — which he has done. It is clear that sheer scale does not automatically make a project a good one. ♦️ One project on the border between reality and fantasy is the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline. The idea is so simple that people came up with it back in 2001: Nigeria has gas, Europe needs gas — let's build a pipeline from Nigeria to Europe through Algeria. 👀 Yet even such a basic concept as laying pipes in a line has failed to materialize. Every 8–10 years since 2001 governments have been signing memorandums, but without any real progress. 🏹 The main problem of this mega-pipeline, whose cost is estimated at $13 billion, lies on the surface: it would run straight through the most dangerous and unstable parts of the continent — northern Nigeria, Niger, and southern Algeria. For a 4,000 km pipeline assigning just one guard per 100 meters would require 40,000 people — roughly the entire Nigerien army today. 📺 Moreover, if one is to build such a monstrosity, there must be confidence that it will pay off. Nigeria itself still struggles with gas supply and electricity shortages — would it really supply northern signori and messieurs at the expense of its own needs? ▶️ As a result, for decades now the pipeline has existed not on the ground, but on paper. And perhaps that is for the best. Maybe one day rulers will realize that gas can be sold to domestic industries, and the need to stretch an iron tentacle all the way to Europe will simply disappear. #Megaprojects ➡️ Follow to stay informed - @devilsbelow