The federal government helps with billions
Construction of liquid gas terminal to progress
04/08/2022, 18:08
The planning of a liquid gas terminal in Brunsbüttel has been stalled for years. Influenced by the war in Ukraine, things must now be done very quickly to reduce dependence on Russian gas. A change in the law is intended to promote rapid construction.
With a change in the water law, Schleswig-Holstein wants to speed up the construction of the planned first German liquid gas terminal in Brunsbüttel. “In the transition to a climate-neutral energy supply, we need more liquefied natural gas to ensure a more independent supply of gas from Russia,” said Prime Minister Daniel Günther. “We’re doing our homework in Schleswig-Holstein.” As far as port facilities are concerned, legislative competence lies with the state.
According to the will of the state government, the state parliament is still to decide on changes to the state water law in April. As a result, the construction of the port should already have started, even if a court would still have to decide on actions for annulment. Günther announced that the state government would submit proposals to the federal government to further speed up the planning and approval procedures for the terminal, for example through changes to the Energy Industry Act, the Administrative Court Code or the Building Code.
Planning for an import terminal for liquid natural gas (LNG) in Brunsbüttel on the Lower Elbe has been going on for years. The federal government wants to finance the purchase of LNG with billions in order to quickly reduce the great dependence of German energy supply on Russian natural gas. At the same time, import terminals for LNG are to be built in Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbüttel. In order to push ahead with the planning in Brunsbüttel, which has been stagnating for years, the federal government is taking a 50 percent stake in the operating company there through its development bank KfW.
It is expressly planned to later convert LNG terminals to the import of climate-neutral hydrogen. Günther, Schleswig-Holstein’s Environment Minister Jan Philipp Albrecht and Economics Minister Bernd Buchholz welcomed the federal government’s plans to quickly secure the supply of natural gas with floating LNG terminals. Brunsbüttel offers good conditions for this. The Brunsbüttel industrial area can also purchase a significant proportion of the LNG directly.