The federal government has decided on further locations for floating LNG terminals. The third terminal goes to Stade near Hamburg and the fourth to Lubmin in Western Pomerania, as the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced on Tuesday. Additional imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) play an important role in making Germany less dependent on Russian gas.
Two ships are already available this year and are to be used at the turn of the year in Wilhelmshaven on the North Sea and Brunsbüttel on the mouth of the Elbe, the ministry said. The other two ships will be available from May 2023. The Stade location is expected to be available from the end of 2023. According to the operator, the facility at sea off Lubmin will not be available until the end of 2023 at the earliest. A private consortium will also build a fifth floating terminal in Lubmin by the end of 2022.
“We have to set up a new infrastructure as quickly as possible in order to be able to replace Russian gas as quickly as possible,” said Economics Minister Robert Habeck. “It is therefore very good news that, in addition to the four federal ships, there is now a fifth private regasification ship. This allows us to increase the amount that can be landed again and thus improve the supply situation.”
Hamburg had also announced that it wanted to set up a mobile LNG terminal, but has not received a federal order for the time being. Most recently, the date was also postponed from October of this year to next spring, and safety concerns were repeatedly raised. There are also said to have been serious concerns within the Senate as to whether the location in the port would be suitable. The Hamburg FDP saw the federal government’s current decision as a defeat for Hamburg’s mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD), who had repeatedly spoken out in favor of an LNG terminal in Hamburg. The CDU said: The CDU sees a setback for the Port of Hamburg in the Federal Government’s award of the floating liquid gas terminals at Stade and Lubmin. “Although an LNG terminal near the city center and port in Hamburg would have posed particular challenges for safety reasons,” says Götz Wiese, economic expert from the parliamentary group, “but ultimately this is a setback for the future energy port of Hamburg.”
But Tschentscher doesn’t want to give up either. “It is in the national interest that all available floating units are commissioned as early as possible,” he said. “Hamburg is still ready to make a contribution to this.” State Councilor for the Environment Michael Pollmann said: “We are still planning the construction of an LNG terminal in the port.” According to Tschentscher and Pollmann, whether this plan can be implemented must first be determined by an expert opinion, that is being worked on.
The traffic light coalition had passed a law to speed up the process of building the LNG infrastructure. “Now it’s a matter of implementation on site,” said Habeck. “And it’s clear that everyone is committed to making things happen as quickly as possible. It is clear that it is not easy. There are many things to be done at the same time and hurdles are increasing. Ultimately, we have to set a pace that hasn’t been seen in Germany before.”
Lower Saxony’s Environment Minister Olaf Lies had already expected the decision on Stade, but asked the federal government to speed things up. Now he spoke of a “good and right decision” in Berlin.
The first floating terminal in Germany is to be built in Wilhelmshaven. On July 1, the energy company Uniper received approval for the construction work, which has now started. According to the company, it took just under a month to apply for the relevant project phase – significantly less than is usual for such projects.
“We will now also start in Stade with this claim,” said Lies about the schedule. “The aim is to have taken all the necessary precautions by late summer 2023.” Further financing talks with the federal government are planned.
“Everything is actually clear in Stade, we could order material tomorrow,” the Energy Minister recently told the German Press Agency. In Wilhelmshaven, Lower Saxony is aiming to start operations on December 21st. Lies is also promoting another LNG terminal in the city on the Jade Bay. The floating facilities are to be used until there are permanent terminals on land.
In addition to landing at the German locations, supply via the LNG terminals in Rotterdam, Zeebrugge in Belgium and Dunkirk in France will also be added if demand is high, the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced. This will bring additional capacity to the German market.
The economy in the five northern German coastal states is demanding more speed from the federal and state governments when converting the German ports for the energy transition. Due to the current energy policy situation, the ports must immediately start expanding the import and storage infrastructure for liquefied natural gas (LNG), oil and coal, according to a statement from the North Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK). “We cannot wait for the national port strategy,” said IHK-Nord Managing Director Alexander Anders. “The federal and state governments must do everything necessary to quickly establish independence from energy imports from Russia – we need the North German seaports for this.”
Specifically, the economy calls for rapid investments in the infrastructure, including hinterland connections by rail and road, “in order to be able to use the seaports efficiently as hubs for energy logistics”. In addition, the expansion of the port infrastructure for the import of hydrogen and its derivatives must be accelerated. The ports are also regarded as hubs for the enormous material transports that will be necessary for the expansion of wind energy at sea.
