A floating LNG terminal is also to be built in the Hanseatic city.
(Photo: dpa)
Hamburg According to Mayor Peter Tschentscher, a floating LNG terminal is to go into operation in Hamburg this year. “Our experts assume that we will be able to put such a terminal into operation by the end of the year,” the SPD politician told the “Welt”. “The capacity is eight billion cubic meters of gas per year.”
The city has previously said it supports German Economics Minister Robert Habeck’s proposal to look for sites for floating LNG terminals. “With our well-developed natural gas network in the port area, the line construction measures could probably be comparatively small,” the city administration explained.
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) had recently put pressure on to reduce the great dependence on Russian natural gas supplies as quickly as possible. Four floating terminals for liquefied natural gas should help to solve the problem. But there are still problems to be solved: It is not easy to connect the terminals to the gas network, and at the same time there are high costs.
At the beginning of April, a report by the Federal Ministry of Economics for the Economic Committee of the Bundestag stated that the Federal Government had “optioned three FSRUs via the companies RWE and Uniper in order to further increase security of supply in Germany”. The abbreviation FSRU stands for “Floating Storage and Regasification Unit”.
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Behind it are special ships that can bring liquefied natural gas (LNG) back into the gaseous state and thus make it available for the gas network. FSRUs are therefore the mobile, quickly deployable alternative to stationary LNG terminals.
Decision for Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbüttel
The decisions for Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbüttel as locations for the deployment of the special ships were made a few days ago. “There are already preliminary contracts, the official signing is in early May,” said a spokesman at the time.
The planning approval procedure for the future pipeline connection of the planned liquefied natural gas terminal in Wilhelmshaven has already begun. The application for planning approval was received on Friday, said the responsible approval authority, the State Office for Mining, Energy and Geology (LBEG) in Hanover.
The application documents can be viewed on the Internet and in the municipalities concerned from May 5th. Objections to the project can be submitted within a period of one month.
The gas network operator Open Grid Europe (OGE) wants to build the 26-kilometer underground pipeline – from the planned LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven to the next connection to the gas pipeline network in Etzel, East Frisia.
The pipeline also stands and falls when LNG can be landed in Wilhelmshaven. The first preparatory work for a floating import terminal is scheduled to begin there next week. According to earlier information, Open Grid Europe expects the construction of the pipeline to start in August.
If no lawsuit is filed against the project or if there are delays, the line could be completed by the end of 2022. According to the state government, LNG should be imported via Wilhelmshaven by the beginning of 2023 at the latest.
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