Status: 01/14/2023 2:40 p.m
The liquid gas terminal at the Greifswalder Bodden is now officially up and running after its trial run. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig also came to Lubmin for this purpose.
The second German import terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) goes into operation in Lubmin (Vorpommern-Greifswald district). The floating terminal is operated privately by the French energy group Totalenergies and the company Deutsche ReGas. The plant is intended to supply eastern Germany in particular with up to 5.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. The first imported liquid gas in Lubmin comes from Egypt.
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Scholz and Schwesig in Lubmin
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) and Environment Minister Till Backhaus (SPD) came to the western Pomeranian Lubmin near Greifswald for the official start. Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) had to cancel his participation due to illness.
The Prime Minister made it clear on site that the use of liquid gas can only be an interim solution. The future could only be regenerative forms of energy. Schwesig wants to make Lubmin a hub for energy. A second terminal is already being planned.
Trial operation since the beginning of January
With the help of liquid gas delivered by ship, Germany wants to become independent of Russian gas as quickly as possible. To this end, the approval process for the Lubminer Terminal has been accelerated. At the beginning of January, natural gas was fed into the gas network for the first time as part of a trial run.
The ship “Neptune”, which serves as a regasification unit, the LNG tanker “Seapeak Hispania” and the LNG shuttle tanker “Coral Furcata” had arrived in Lubmin in the past few weeks. There are protests against today’s start of regular operations.
Criticism from citizens and associations
On the fringes of the opening ceremony, there are protests from citizens and environmental organizations. In their opinion, the effects on the protected Greifswalder Bodden would not be sufficiently taken into account. They also criticize the fact that the documents contain a whole range of additional requirements that should not be resolved in advance, but during operation. In their opinion, the study area for possible harmful effects on the environment was far too small.
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The critics are also critical of the operating license for the floating LNG terminal for a period of nine years. In addition, the noise pollution and the dangers of shuttle ship traffic were not checked in accordance with the requirements of environmental law. However, there are hardly any possibilities to take action against the project now. Appeals have no suspensive effect, according to the LNG Acceleration Act.
Shuttle ships between the Baltic Sea and Bodden
In Lubmin, the terminal has to be supplied by smaller shuttle ships due to the low water levels in the Greifswalder Bodden. They fetch the LNG from a larger tank storage ship on the Baltic Sea. A special ship for this is the “Neptune”, which has been lying off Lubmin since mid-December. The “Neptune” can heat the liquefied natural gas and turn it back into gas. The gas can then be fed into the grid. The infrastructure in Lubmin can also be used to feed in hydrogen.
Several LNG terminals in Germany
The Lubminer Terminal is one of the first operational LNG terminals in Germany. In Wilhelmshaven, Lower Saxony The first German import terminal for liquefied natural gas opened at the end of the year. A terminal in Brunsbüttel in Schleswig-Holstein is ready for delivery.
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