Germany inaugurates, Saturday, December 17, its first liquefied gas (LNG) terminal, intended to avoid shortages and to replace Russian deliveries, stopped by the war in Ukraine. The German authorities see LNG as an alternative that will enable it to respond to the energy crisis.
The boat Hoegh Esperanza, moored since Thursday on the brand new Wilhelmshaven platform, on the shores of the Black Sea, is loaded with Nigerian LNG which will then be sent to the German network for distribution from December 22. Its cargo is the equivalent of the consumption of 50,000 households.
Dependent at 55% on gas imports arriving from Russian pipelines until the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Germany now wishes to intensify its LNG supplies imported by sea. Imports of liquefied gas to Germany, via Belgian, Dutch and French ports, have surged.
To limit the high cost of transport, Berlin has decided to launch the construction of five other floating terminals which should be operational from next year.
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The delivery of a third of the country’s gas needs
Financed thanks to the billions of euros that the German authorities have released, the whole must provide 30 billion cubic meters per year, or a third of the gas needs of the country. It remains to fill in these terminals.
Germany has signed a fifteen-year supply contract with Qatar, this agreement should supply up to 2 million tonnes of LNG per year, but the delivery of gas will only start from 2026.
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