The Federal Minister of Economics wants to use the terminals to secure the supply of natural gas.
(Photo: IMAGO/BildFunkMV)
Berlin The Federal Ministry of Economics wants to install two mobile LNG terminals in the port of Mukran on the Baltic Sea island of Rügen. In ministry circles it was said that the planned location in front of the coastal town of Sellin would no longer apply. The Mukran site is to be fixed with the planned amendment to the LNG Acceleration Act.
The ministry is reacting to the massive criticism in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. State and local politicians as well as citizens had expressed the fear that the location in front of Sellin, where up to four mobile LNG terminals should have been installed, would endanger tourism.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) was there for the second time at the end of last week to explain the situation to the stakeholders.
The mobile terminals, known as Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRU) in technical jargon, are intended to help secure natural gas supplies as early as next winter. According to the ministry, together they are expected to have an annual capacity of ten billion cubic meters of natural gas.
To put this into context: the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline, which has since been destroyed, had an annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters.
Other FSRUs have gone into operation or will soon go into operation in Wilhelmshaven, Stade and Brunsbüttel. These are so-called “Federal FSRUs”. The federal FSRU is operated by Deutsche Energy Terminal GmbH, which is 100 percent owned by the federal government.
Replacement pipes for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline are being used
Ministry circles also said that it is currently the most likely variant that the company Deutsche ReGas will operate both FSRUs in the port of Mukran. Deutsche ReGas will relocate its mobile LNG terminal “Neptun”, which has been in operation in the Baltic Sea port of Lubmin since the beginning of January, to Mukran.
>> Read here: RWE wants to withdraw from the LNG terminal project on Rügen
This confirms reports that RWE will no longer operate an FSRU in the Baltic Sea. A query from the Handelsblatt to Deutsche ReGas has so far remained unanswered.
Pipes stored in the port of Mukran are to be used to connect the two FSRUs in the port of Mukran to the existing gas network. These are unlaid replacement pipes for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
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