Liquefied natural gas should support Germany’s energy supply decisively. The first ship terminals could go into operation from the end of the year – but the time pressure is enormous. Are the quantities sufficient?
The feared delivery stop of Russian natural gas after the maintenance work on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline puts the already accelerated plans for German LNG terminals under additional time pressure.
In Wilhelmshaven, construction work has started to connect a plant that should take liquefied natural gas (LNG) from December if possible. According to the Federal Ministry of Economics, the start of operations in Brunsbüttel in Schleswig-Holstein is planned for early 2023. There is currently no reason to worry about the ship capacities, it said in Berlin. However, there have not yet been any stipulations regarding further terminal locations.
Appeal to the federal government: Make decisions quickly
Lower Saxony’s Energy Minister Olaf Lies appealed to the federal government to make the outstanding decisions as quickly as possible. “I am absolutely sure that we will have enough gas if there is also sufficient capacity for receiving and forwarding,” said the SPD politician to the German Press Agency on Wednesday. “Hence the request: We need clarity for all necessary systems. There is no way around building these terminals quickly.”
The Uniper Group has the building permit for Wilhelmshaven from the Oldenburg Trade Inspectorate. Another initially floating system for intermediate storage and re-gasification of the gas, which will be used on an interim basis until permanent terminals are built on land, is to be built in Stade next to Brunsbüttel. Baltic Sea ports in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania should also be in the running. Lies is also hoping for a second system for Wilhelmshaven. According to the Federal Ministry of Economics, there are charter commitments for four swimming terminals.
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“Everything is actually clear in Stade, we could order material there tomorrow,” says Lies. Then it would probably be possible to start operations in the third quarter of 2023. “Every week that the federal government struggles with a decision is one more week that we lose.”
It is expected that Russia could stop its deliveries via the pipeline in July. However, the federal government allayed fears that the LNG quantities could be too small due to a lack of special tankers and long-term contracts with other customers. Discussions with gas traders suggested that “LNG deliveries, including the necessary transports to Germany and to LNG landing terminals in neighboring EU countries, are secured,” said a spokeswoman for Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens).
The “Bild” newspaper, citing assessments by shipowners and economists, had reported that there were doubts as to whether the necessary volume of deliveries was guaranteed. From Habeck’s department it said: “It doesn’t matter that it’s a German tanker, because it’s an international market.” Contractually unbound LNG is also currently arriving. This is from short-term purchases.
Olaf Lies pushes the pace
Lies pointed out that not only the speed of the approval of the terminals themselves but also of their connection to the national gas distribution network had to be high. In Wilhelmshaven, for example, a new connecting line is being built for this purpose. Ultimately, expanding the gas network in Germany is just as important as finding new suppliers and building up LNG import capacities. Read supported proposals to set up a pay-as-you-go system similar to green electricity financing in order to distribute additional costs more or less evenly. “We need a fixed contribution that everyone pays. Otherwise customers with little income or with particularly high gas consumption would be killed. In this respect, the model is absolutely correct.”
Several of the planned LNG terminals continue to raise concerns from environmentalists. Uniper assured that all environmental investigations in Wilhelmshaven should be carried out as prescribed – regardless of the high time pressure. “Higher speed does not mean poor quality,” said the manager responsible for investment planning, Holger Kreetz, of the dpa.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
