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Habeck in Wilhelmshaven: Agreements for new LNG plants signed
Photo: Sina Schuldt / dpa
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck has once again defended the rapid approach to the construction of the floating LNG terminal.
"We have a good chance of doing what is actually impossible in Germany: building an LNG terminal within about ten months and connecting it to the German gas supply," said the Green politician, who was celebrating the first ramming traveled to Wilhelmshaven.
Minister urges accelerated energy transition
The planned infrastructure is also designed to accept deliveries of green hydrogen in the future.
"An accelerated energy transition is the be-all and end-all for a cheap, independent and secure energy supply," he said.
At the same time, Habeck called for the speed of the expansion of renewables to be tripled.
“Supply security can only be guaranteed in the long term if we think about this alongside the development of infrastructure for LNG.” This could be seen as an overture by politicians to critics of the project.
In particular, the German Environmental Aid had attacked the new terminal - and demanded an immediate halt to construction.
The construction threatens the irreversible destruction of an underwater biotope, and porpoises would also be endangered, the environmental protection organization said.
According to its own statements, the environmental aid objected to the decision of the State Office for Water Management, Coastal Protection and Nature Conservation (NLWKN).
In view of this, Habeck had already warned of lawsuits against the accelerated construction in the evening.
On the RTL broadcaster, he said in the direction of environmental aid: "If in doubt, your lawsuit will make us more dependent on Putin."
As of mid-April, Germany still obtains around 35 percent of its gas requirements from Russia.
For weeks, the federal government has been trying to free itself from this dependency, among other things, the supply from Norway and the Netherlands has been increased.
150 steel piles are to be rammed into the seabed
In the eyes of the federal government, gas is considered a bridging technology to create the transition to purely renewable energies.
According to the government, however, new unloading stations must also be built so that liquid gas can also be imported on a large scale from the USA or Qatar, for example, such as the terminal planned in Wilhelmshaven.
During the visit to Wilhelmshaven, Habeck also signed a declaration of intent for the federal government with Lower Saxony to expand the LNG infrastructure - as well as contracts to rent floating LNG terminals.
According to Habeck, several so-called Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRU) in Germany should be able to accept liquid gas deliveries and feed them into the grid by the turn of the year.
The units each require a pier, like the one that is now being built in Wilhelmshaven.
For the approximately 370 meter long system, 150 steel piles with a length of 50 meters have to be rammed into the seabed.
In addition to the floating terminal in Wilhelmshaven, the construction of a regular LNG terminal is also planned in Stade, Lower Saxony.
Another is to be built in Brunsbüttel.
Apr/dpa/AFP