BRUNSBÜTTEL/STADE (dpa-AFX) - Germany has taken another step toward securing energy supplies with the arrival of its third floating terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG). On Friday, the terminal ship "Höegh Gannet" docked in the industrial port of Brunsbüttel at the mouth of the Elbe. At the same time, another jetty for liquefied gas is being built on the Lower Elbe in Stade. The 300 million euro terminal in Stade is scheduled to go into operation next winter.

Germany is relying on LNG, among other things, to replace a shortfall in Russian gas supplies. It is rapidly building its own infrastructure for this purpose. In total, Germany wants to cover up to a third of its current gas requirements via floating LNG terminals in the winter of 2023/2024. So far, such terminals exist in Wilhelmshaven in Lower Saxony, Lubmin in Western Pomerania and Brunsbüttel in Schleswig-Holstein.

In Brunsbüttel, German Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) spoke of the start of a future green energy supply. Green molecules such as regeneratively produced hydrogen are the way to get out of fossil energy and displace coal, he said. "This is the next big step." He recalled that three floating terminals had been created in Germany within ten months.

RWE CEO Markus Krebber also pointed to the short time from planning to completion. This, he said, sets standards for the modernization of energy supply. "This will also be necessary so that Germany as an industrial location can become climate-neutral as quickly as possible." Schleswig-Holstein's Minister President Daniel Günther (CDU) said that "with the floating terminal in Brunsbüttel, we are securing our gas supply and opening up new opportunities in the future, such as hydrogen imports."

The 294-meter-long and 46-meter-wide "Höegh Gannet" will receive liquefied gas from tankers in Brunsbüttel and convert it back to its gaseous state for transport to pipelines before the fixed terminal becomes operational. In the current year, 3.5 billion cubic meters of gas are to be fed into the network with the help of the special ship, and 7.5 billion once a long connecting pipeline has been completed. The stationary terminal is scheduled for completion in 2026.

Five billion cubic meters of natural gas are to be handled annually in Stade. That corresponds to six percent of Germany's gas consumption, the Lower Saxony port company announced. The floating facility is to be used until the stationary one with a higher capacity starts operations three years later. The environmental associations BUND and Nabu called for plans for LNG terminals to be scaled back. They said these were oversized in view of the phase-out of fossil fuels./moe/DP/nas