Germany is booking floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), one of which could be operational as early as 2022, the country’s minister of economic affairs and climate, Robert Habeck, has said.
Two energy companies, RWE and Uniper, are finalising contracts to charter three FSRUs that could be used to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) directly into Germany as early as next winter.
The federal government is currently examining possible locations in the North and Baltic Sea to deploy the units in the short term, partly for the winter of 2022/23. “With the leasing of the three floating terminals, around 27bn cu m of LNG could be landed in the final stage step by step by summer 2024. As early as in the winter of 2022/2023, an additional 7.5bn cu m of LNG would be available on the market,” the ministry said.
Habeck stated Germany is making significant headway in weaning itself from Russian fossil fuel imports, and by the end of the year, it might be essentially independent of the country’s coal and oil. Natural gas supply poses the most difficult issue, and it will likely take until mid-2024 for Germany to be able to forgo deliveries from Russia, he added.
Earlier this month, the country moved to build its first LNG terminal in Brunsbüttel, near Hamburg, followed by a plan to develop an ammonia import terminal in the immediate vicinity.
