In 2024 and 2025, five government-chartered FSRUs will offer
regasification capacities of 27 billion cubic metres (bcm). A
private project at the Lubmin port will offer 5 bcm, but can be
doubled to 10 bcm from 2024.
Project companies, utility RWE and HEH, plan
land-based LNG hubs at Brunsbuettel and Stade, that could be
handling non-fossil fuels such as clean hydrogen or ammonia in
the long-term future.
Uniper is part of a plan to build a purely green
gases hub at Wilhelmshaven.
Final investment decisions on these three projects have not
been taken.
($1 = 0.9422 euros)
(Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by Matthias Williams and
Sharon Singleton)
(Adds detail, context)
By Vera Eckert
FRANKFURT, March 3 (Reuters) - Germany said on Friday
that new infrastructure for floating liquefied natural gas
terminals (LNG) will exceed previously expected costs,
forewarning taxpayers that there will be a price to pay for
energy security.
The Bundestag lower house of parliament has approved 9.8
billion euros ($10.40 billion) for the 2022-2038 period, but "It
is already clear now, that more cost increases will have to be
added," according to a paper issued by the Economy Ministry.
The paper had been drawn up partly with the help of a study
undertaken by the Cologne economic research institute, EWI.
Germany, one of the most reliant in Europe on Russian gas,
is looking for alternatives since Moscow turned off the taps in
the energy crisis in the wake of war in Ukraine.
However, critics of the LNG push say the future of energy
should lie in electrification and such terminals could help
fossil-fuel incumbents cement their survival. Environmentalists
fear the units could pose risks to local wildlife and tourism.
Berlin initiated the build-up of floating storage and
regasification units (FSRUs) at various coastal locations in
record time to speed Germany's bid to get access to new import
channels, on top of raising pipeline and LNG gas receipts from
neighbouring Europe for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 winters.
The government paper said that in a follow-up to the
immediate measures, it was important to solidify and expand the
infrastructure to be able to boost Europe's gas infrastructure
overall, to create buffers, flexibility and solidarity.
"As much as other European countries made LNG shipments to
Germany possible, Germany must be able to support its neighbours
as well," it said.
Six FSRUs at four sites are due to be online by the end of
2023.
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