Liquid gas supply: billions for floating LNG terminals

As early as next winter, liquid gas could come directly to Germany via floating terminals. The federal government has now released 2.5 billion euros for this. Environmental groups remain skeptical.

The federal government is speeding up to become independent of Russian gas as quickly as possible. It is providing almost 2.5 billion euros to rent four floating liquid gas terminals. This emerges from a letter from the Federal Ministry of Finance ARD Capital Studio present. The Ministry of Finance released the money without first involving the Budget Committee of the Bundestag. The decision was “very urgent”, the ministry said in the letter. According to this, the first charter contracts are to be signed today.

Use from next winter

The two and a half billion euros should also be used to operate the systems for ten years. In the future, ships will be able to deliver liquefied natural gas (liquefied natural gas) directly to Germany via the floating terminals. This is currently not possible because Germany does not yet have its own LNG terminal and is dependent on ports in neighboring countries such as the Netherlands. Several German terminals on land are being planned, but construction is likely to take a few years. Floating terminals should help faster. The government hopes that they will be able to deliver liquefied gas directly to Germany as early as next winter.

Brunsbüttel in Schleswig-Holstein and Wilhelmshaven in Lower Saxony are to become locations, and according to the ministry, others are being examined. Stade in Lower Saxony, Rostock in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the Port of Hamburg are also being discussed. According to Lower Saxony’s Minister for the Environment, Olaf Lies from the SPD, a quantity of gas that accounts for almost 20 percent of annual Russian gas imports could be obtained via the terminal in Wilhelmshaven by the turn of the year.

Terminals very much in demand at the moment

LNG comes to Europe via ships, for example from Qatar or the USA. Through the terminals, LNG can be gasified again and brought ashore. Getting the floating facilities must not have been easy. Since the Russian war in Ukraine, they have been in great demand throughout Europe. Because the entire EU wants to become independent of Russian gas as quickly as possible.

The spokesman for maritime economy of the FDP in the Bundestag, Hagen Reinhold, praised the efforts of the federal government. The decision to rent floating terminals at short notice was “right and groundbreaking”. It is associated with the task of “removing all obstacles so that operational readiness can be ensured within the shortest possible time”. In addition, it must now be checked at which locations there are advantages, for example when connecting to the gas network.

Environmentalists warn of ‘fossil trap’

Criticism comes from environmental groups. Constantin Zerger from the German Environmental Aid accuses the federal government of a lack of transparency: “The government has still not answered whether these terminals are necessary for the energy industry.” There are no numbers on this. “We also don’t know how that is compatible with the climate goals of the federal government.”

Zerger speaks of a competition between the federal states and terminal locations. “The whole thing is now leading to uncontrolled growth with far too large import capacities.” If the federal government is already relying on floating LNG terminals, the construction of fixed terminals on land should at least be abandoned. “The whole thing is a fossil trap because the terminals will last for years and we will continue to import fossil energy for a long time.”