German LNG import projects to pick up speed

To end decades of bilateral energy cooperation with Russia, Germany has declared these LNG terminal projects vital to the process. 

The projects had not moved forward because the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline route from Siberia through the Baltic Sea - now abandoned - would have reduced the need for diversification into costlier and globally sought-after LNG. 

Prospective investors in the terminals have said they would develop them into sites that could also accommodate supply chains for zero-carbon fossil gas alternatives such as hydrogen or ammonia in the future. 

LNG terminals cost several hundreds of million euros each. 

Brunsbuettel 

An LNG facility with capacity of 8 Bm³ is planned to start in 2026 or earlier on the mouth of the Kiel Canal that connects the Baltic with the North Sea. 

German state lender KfW has taken a 50% stake in exchange for its financial support, with utility RWE taking 10% and Dutch operator Gasunie holding 40%. 

British oil and gas group Shell has committed to booking large parts of the terminal. 

Wilhelmshaven 

Energy companies Uniper, Fortum and Tree Energy Solutions are pushing the Wilhelmshaven deep-sea port on the North Sea in Germany's state of Lower Saxony as a "hydrogen-ready" location from the start. 

It could go into operation in winter 2023-2024. 

Stade 

Project company Hanseatic Energy Hub, backed by Belgian gas transport networks group Fluxys, Swiss investment company Partners Group and German logistics group Buss, aims to develop a 12 Bm³ terminal at the inland Elbe river port of Stade in Lower Saxony. 

(Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by Zuzanna Szymanska and Jane Merriman) 

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