VBefore the opening of the first German import terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Wilhelmshaven, Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) defended the project against concerns from environmentalists. The terminal is a piece of the puzzle, but an important one and a start, said the Greens politician on Friday evening in the ARD “Tagesthemen”. Everything will be built in such a way that the climate targets are achieved, and gas consumption will also be reduced in the future.
An alternative would be a lack of gas
Without these terminals, Germany could have slipped into a gas shortage. “We are acting under the greatest pressure here to ensure security of supply in Germany,” said Habeck. This also means that participation processes would be shortened and that “unusual paths” would be taken when expanding the infrastructure. The alternative would have been a gas shortage, with the result that the German economy and public support for Ukraine would collapse. Averting this need has absolute political priority.
The LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven is to be opened this Saturday in the presence of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Habeck, Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD). It is part of Germany’s efforts to become independent of natural gas from Russia. The plant is operated by the gas importer Uniper. Others are being built in Brunsbüttel (Schleswig-Holstein), Stade (Lower Saxony) and Lubmin (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania).
Assumptions that not all terminals would be needed were rejected by Habeck as wrong. The Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia accounted for half of Germany’s gas consumption, and the terminals then covered around a third of gas requirements. “There can be no talk of overcapacity at all,” said Habeck. There is also a qualitative difference. If the LNG ships are no longer needed, they can be chartered out. In addition, the terminals would be built in such a way that they can be converted to supply hydrogen.
