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View of the construction site of the future pier in Wilhelmshaven: construction start on July 4th
Photo: Sina Schuldt / dpa
In May, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck spoke of wanting to create something “which is actually impossible in Germany”.
The Green politician meant setting up an LNG terminal within just ten months.
According to the energy company Uniper, the state trade supervisory office in Oldenburg has now played its part in ensuring that this succeeds.
The authorities have approved the early start of construction.
However, environmental groups have strong concerns about the project.
The German environmental aid had recently demanded an immediate halt to construction on the project.
They fear that the construction will irreversibly destroy an underwater biotope, and that porpoises will also be endangered.
The organization had announced that it wanted to take legal action against the terminal.
"The quick granting of approval for the early start of construction shows the importance of the LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven for the state's security of supply," said Uniper boss Klaus-Dieter Maubach, according to a statement.
»That is not something that can be taken for granted – above all it shows what is possible when society, industry and politics all pull together.«
Handling of up to 7.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year
At the beginning of June, Uniper submitted the application for the necessary approval and for approval of the early start under the Federal Immission Control Act to the Oldenburg Trade Inspectorate.
The company said the official start of construction was this Monday, July 4th.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is intended to help free Germany from its dependence on Russian gas.
So far, the infrastructure required for the import is missing.
Therefore, the construction of floating and fixed LNG terminals is to be accelerated by allowing the licensing authorities to temporarily omit certain procedural steps, especially in the environmental impact assessment.
Up to 7.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year are to be handled via the floating LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven.
That corresponds to around 8.5 percent of current German gas requirements per year.
The first ramming for the project took place on May 5th in the presence of Economics Minister Habeck.
The federal government has already rented four floating liquid gas terminals, Habeck recently told the "Welt am Sonntag".
"Two ships are already available this year and are to be used in Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbüttel at the turn of the year 2022/23." His ministry is therefore working in close cooperation with the federal states.
"Everyone is behind it here, because we ultimately have to set a pace that has never existed in Germany before," he told the newspaper.
"We are very happy that things are now starting to get going," said Lower Saxony's Minister for the Environment and Energy, Olaf Lies.
"We need a replacement for Russian gas as soon as possible, and we in the north are ready to take responsibility for that," said the SPD politician.
apr/dpa
