Are the gas capacities in Germany sufficient? According to a report, there could soon be overcapacity. According to the Ministry of Economy, more gas will be imported through the floating LNG terminals in 2024 than came from Russia in 2021.
According to a media report, the Federal Ministry of Economics is anticipating significant overcapacity when all liquefied natural gas terminals are built in Germany. With regard to the planned floating terminals, the so-called “Floating Storage and Regasification Units” (FSRU), the “capacity of the existing FSRUs as well as the land-based terminals would exceed the level of the 2021 gas import volumes from Russia,” writes the digital media service “Table Media “. He cites a confidential preparatory report from the Ministry for a meeting in the Chancellery this week.
According to this, ten floating terminals are planned on the North Sea and Baltic Sea, six of them with state participation. From 2024, these floating terminals alone would have a capacity of 53 to 67 billion cubic meters of gas per year. In addition, three terminals are to be built on land by 2026, which will also have a capacity of up to 50 billion cubic meters of gas.
For comparison: in 2021, only 54 billion cubic meters were imported from Russia to Germany via pipeline. At the same time, the overcapacities will be exacerbated by the fact that other EU countries are also importing significantly more liquid gas and at the same time demand in Germany will drop significantly by 2030.
A safety buffer is planned for the LNG projects, the media service quotes the ministry as saying. For some projects, the chances of realization are still subject to uncertainties. Against the background of possible overcapacity, the budget committee stopped funding for a sixth terminal with state participation.
According to the report, the Ministry of Economics explains that for the LNG terminal planned in Hamburg, there is “currently no realistic option for commissioning” due to “line bottlenecks”. LNG plays a key role in the federal government’s efforts to replace gas supplies from Russia.
In a study, however, the think tank E3G advocates that Germany should reduce its gas consumption and not restore the old capacities. That has to happen anyway if we want to achieve our climate goals, said Maria Pastukohova and Matthias Koch from the think tank recently in ntv’s “Climate Laboratory”. This would also save a lot of money: “We’re not talking about a two-year crisis. That’s why we should ask ourselves: Wouldn’t it be more profitable if we made the savings now?” said Pasthukova and Koch.
