Germany builds new gas terminals to succeed Russian pipelines

Germany’s most strategically important building site is at the end of a windswept pier on the North Sea coast, where workers are assembling the country’s first terminal for the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Starting this winter, the rig, close to the port of Wilhelmshaven, will be able to supply the equivalent of 20 percent of the gas that was until recently imported from Russia.

Since its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has throttled gas supplies to Germany, while the Nord Stream pipelines which carried huge volumes under the Baltic Sea to Europe were damaged last week in what a Danish-Swedish report called “a deliberate act.”

In the search for alternative sources, the German government has splashed billions on five projects like the one in Wilhelmshaven.

Altogether the new fleet should be able to handle around 25 billion cubic metres of gas per year, roughly equivalent to half the capacity of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

LNG terminals allow for the import by sea of natural gas which has been chilled and turned into a liquid to make it easier to transport.

A specialist vessel, known as an FSRU, which can stock the fuel and turn LNG back into a ready-to-use gas, is also hooked up to the platform to complete the installation.

Unlike other countries in Europe, Germany until now did not have an LNG terminal, instead relying on relatively cheap pipeline supplies from Russia.

But since the invasion of Ukraine, Germany has set about weaning itself off Moscow’s gas exports, which previously represented 55 percent of its supplies.

To diversify its sources, secure enough supplies of the fuel and keep its factories working, Berlin has bet massively on LNG to fill the gap left by Russian imports.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz last week signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates for the supply of LNG, while touring Gulf states in search of new sources.

Renting five FSRU ships to plug into the new terminals has also set Berlin back three billion euros ($2.9 billion).

By 2030, the site is set to be converted for the importation of green hydrogen, produced with renewables, which Berlin has backed as part of its energy transition.