“Is the new German pace”
Scholz opens the first LNG terminal
12/17/2022 1:44 p.m
For Chancellor Scholz it is “a good day”: The special ship “Höegh Esperanza” can go into operation at the first of a total of four German LNG locations in the Wilhelmshaven terminal. In the future, it will cover six percent of Germany’s gas needs.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz has officially opened the first German liquid gas terminal in Wilhelmshaven, Lower Saxony. With these and the other planned LNG terminals, the German energy supply will be “independent of the pipelines from Russia,” said Scholz in his speech to the special ship “Höegh Esperanza”, which moored in Wilhelmshaven on Thursday. Around six percent of Germany’s gas requirements are to be fed into the grid via the terminal each year.
The so-called Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) takes liquefied natural gas (LNG) from tankers and converts it to gas while it is still on board. At the opening, Scholz praised the rapid availability of the facilities, which had hardly been thought possible just a few months ago. “This is now the new pace in Germany, with which we are advancing infrastructure,” said the Chancellor. In this respect, this is also a sign of the strength of the German economy.
Scholz referred to the dramatic consequences of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine – primarily for the Ukrainians, but also for inflation and energy security. If, after this terminal, the other planned facilities in Lubmin, Brunsbüttel and Stade are also completed, “then we can say: Germany has guaranteed its energy security,” emphasized the Chancellor. In this respect, this is “a good day”.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck from the Greens, Finance Minister Christian Lindner from the FDP and Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil from the SPD also attended the opening. Habeck also spoke in the newspapers of the Funke media group of a “decisive step for security of supply in Germany”. However, environmental groups criticize the build-up of overcapacity for gas imports and the disregard of other applicable environmental regulations.
Four more terminals are to be built by the end of next year: one each in Brunsbüttel (Schleswig-Holstein), Stade (Lower Saxony) and Lubmin (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) – and another one in Wilhelmshaven. According to the Economics Ministry, together they can absorb a third of the natural gas volume required to supply Germany.