DUH Managing Director Sascha Müller-Kraenner told the Handelsblatt: “In our opinion, Climate Protection Minister Habeck must deal even more intensively with the question of whether there are alternatives.” The question of whether Germany needs an LNG terminal is “closed with big question marks Mistake”.
In view of the current gas supply crisis, the import of LNG is gaining in importance. Germany does not yet have an LNG terminal.
The topic of LNG has become an integral part of Habeck’s energy policy speeches. In January he said in the Bundestag that if not enough natural gas arrives via pipelines, the liquid natural gas has to be bought. “LNG requires that there is an infrastructure,” he explained. However, the two planned terminals in Brunsbüttel and Stade “so far cannot be financed privately.” Habeck announced: “We will now address this question energetically.”
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DUH boss Müller-Kraenner sees this critically. He wants to link the construction of LNG terminals at least with strict restrictions. “If at the end of all considerations there is the realization that the construction of an LNG terminal in Germany is indispensable, then the construction would have to be subject to certain conditions that meet the goal of climate neutrality by 2045,” said Müller-Kraenner. This includes limiting the operating time of an LNG terminal. In addition, such a terminal must be convertible to green hydrogen.
Habeck faces a dilemma
Müller-Kraenner considers it more obvious to think about expanding existing gas pipeline capacities, which lead, for example, from the LNG terminal in Rotterdam in the Netherlands to Germany. Despite increased LNG imports, the European LNG terminals are still not fully utilized. “So there is an opportunity to increase LNG imports even more to avoid an acute shortage situation,” he said.
The DUH boss also points out that it would be several years before an LNG terminal would be available – no matter which project you look at. “That doesn’t help in overcoming the current bottleneck situation.”
The Economics and Climate Protection Minister is committed to LNG terminals – and has received criticism from many quarters.
(Photo: Reuters)
The dispute over the construction of LNG terminals, which Habeck now has to face, reveals a dilemma. As Economics Minister, he must ensure that Germany’s energy supply remains secure, climate-friendly and at the same time as cost-effective as possible. As a Green politician, on the other hand, Habeck has to serve the core clientele of the party, which puts the climate aspect at the forefront of all considerations.
The German environmental aid is not without controversy. Many economic players, such as large parts of the automotive industry, fear the DUH because of its uncompromising approach. The organization has put the companies under massive pressure with lawsuits and campaigns in recent years. With a view to LNG terminals, the DUH is already ammunition with legal opinions. Habeck has already received an open letter on the subject of LNG from the DUH.
Green politicians criticize Habeck’s plans
The gas industry considers the construction of LNG terminals to be sensible. “We will continue to need energy imports to cover our needs,” said Timm Kehler, head of the industry association Zukunft Gas. This also includes actively addressing natural gas import infrastructures such as pipelines and LNG terminals in order to close the growing import gap.
But is an LNG terminal in Germany really indispensable for this? Michael Stoppard, chief strategist for guest topics at the consulting firm IHS Markit, doubts that: “We are talking about a European market. Germany is surrounded by LNG terminals,” he told Handelsblatt.
Habeck’s advocacy of LNG terminals is also viewed critically within his own party. The state chairman of the Lower Saxony Greens, Hanso Janßen, told the “Spiegel” that he considered a new LNG building to be “misguided in terms of energy policy”. It is “economically and ecologically more sensible” to think directly about import structures for green hydrogen.
Retrospectively making liquefied gas terminals “hydrogen-ready” is too expensive. Schleswig-Holstein’s green energy transition minister, Jan Philipp Albrecht, also considers a terminal to be a “sensible bridging technology” only if it is “oriented from the start to trading in emission-free gases such as green hydrogen”.
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