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Germany secures LNG supply commitment for two FSRUs

Germany has signed a memorandum of understanding with its top utilities to ensure the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the two floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs).

Under the deal with Uniper, RWE and EnBW subsidiary VNG, the country’s first two FSRU-based LNG import terminals in Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbuettel will be fully supplied from their expected operation launch by the end of this year until March 2024.

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’s Gazprom, which is the majority owner of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that currently operates at 20% capacity.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who signed the deal, said this was part of efforts to make the country independent and less susceptible to blackmail from Putin and to give Germany a robust and resilient energy infrastructure.

According to the Federal Ministry of Economics, 12.5bn cu m of gas can be obtained from regions that cannot be reached by gas pipelines, which was about 13% of the country’s gas demand last year.

Germany has already locked in four FSRUs, two from Norway’s Höegh LNG and another pair managed by Greece’s Dynagas. In addition, private operating companies are working on two other projects of this type in Lubmin and Wilhelmshaven.

Adis Ajdin

Adis is an experienced news reporter with a background in finance, media and education. He has written across the spectrum of offshore energy and ocean industries for many years and is a member of International Federation of Journalists. Previously he had written for Navingo media group titles including Offshore Energy, Subsea World News and Marine Energy.
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