The city in the north is becoming a veritable energy hub.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin, Dusseldorf In north-west Germany, the first terminal for landing liquefied natural gas (LNG) could be connected to the grid as early as the end of the year. With the help of a floating system, the Düsseldorf-based energy company Uniper wants to land and convert imported LNG on the North Sea coast as early as next winter. The company announced this on Friday.
Due to its infrastructure, Wilhelmshaven is an important hub for future liquefied natural gas deliveries. Natural gas transmission lines with free transport capacities are only 28 kilometers away, and Etzel is also home to one of the largest natural gas storage facilities in Europe, which is also operated by Uniper. The connection of the planned terminal to both infrastructure points is currently being planned by the transmission system operator Open Grid Europe (OGE).
Uniper had been working on the plans for the floating LNG terminal for years, but decided to abandon the project in 2021. After the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine and at the request of the German government, the energy company has put the project back on the agenda.
Because Germany imports more than half of its natural gas from Russia, politicians are under great pressure looking for ways to free themselves from energy dependency. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG for short) from Qatar, the USA and other countries is the most important alternative.
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Unlike the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and France, however, Germany does not yet have its own LNG terminal. So far, the deliveries have come to Germany via a landing point in Rotterdam. That should change now. Several terminals are currently being planned in this country.
Terminal in Stade and Brunsbüttel planned
In Stade, the Hanseatic Energy Hub GmbH (HEH) wants to build a terminal through which twelve billion cubic meters of gas can be imported annually in the first expansion stage. In addition to the Hamburg port and shipping logistics company Buss Group, the Belgian pipeline and liquid gas terminal operator Fluxys and the Swiss private equity capital market expert Partners Group have been involved in the consortium for the LNG terminal construction.
At the same time, German LNG Terminal GmbH has been trying to build a terminal in Brunsbüttel for four years. The project received a significant tailwind a few weeks ago: the federal government will participate in the project via the state development bank KfW, as will the Dutch gas network operator Gasunie, which is 100 percent owned by the Dutch state. The RWE Group takes over a smaller part.
Also in Wilhelmshaven, the Belgian investor group TES plans to set up a landing site for liquefied natural gas from 2024.
>> Read here: Belgian investor group builds LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven
So far, there have been three projects by companies that want to organize imports via terminals in the city, Lower Saxony’s Energy Minister Olaf Lies said recently. “If we implemented all three of them, we would really get a significant performance. We could use it to import half of the imported Russian gas via the Wilhelmshaven coast,” said Lies. In total, it is about 25 billion cubic meters.
Import of LNG by 2023
With regard to the terminals, it is now necessary to see how and in which order the three projects can be implemented in order to achieve the target of importing LNG by 2023. Uniper is also still waiting for official approval from politicians. The company has prepared everything so far.
In addition to the LNG terminal, Uniper wants to make the Wilhelmshaven site a national hub for hydrogen, including an import terminal for green ammonia. The gas, which is produced in a climate-neutral manner, should be able to be processed into hydrogen in a so-called ammonia cracker. At the same time, the construction of an electrolysis plant for the production of hydrogen with a capacity of 410 megawatts (MW) is planned.
According to the information, the import terminal and electrolysis together could produce around 295,000 tons of hydrogen per year and thus cover around ten percent of the demand for the whole of Germany in 2030. The green hydrogen produced in this way will serve to supply local industry, but will also be fed into the planned national hydrogen network.
More: The Dutch want to increase gas production and are demanding the same from Germany
