First floating LNG terminal reaches Rügen

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At first glance, the »Neptune« looks like a normal tanker.

In fact, it is the first floating LNG terminal at a German port.

The special ship from Wales is intended to store and so-called regasification of liquid gas and docked in Sassnitz on the Baltic Sea island of Rügen on Wednesday.

However, the so-called FSRU ship is only to make an intermediate stop at the Mukran port.

The »Neptune« is then to be transferred to the Baltic Sea industrial port of Lubmin, where it will convert the liquefied gas delivered by tankers back into the gaseous state.

The energy company Deutsche ReGas will then feed the gas into the long-distance network in a pipeline that has yet to be laid.

Two floating LNG terminals are also currently being built on the North Sea coast - in Wilhelmshaven on the North Sea and in Brunsbüttel on the Elbe estuary.

They should go into operation at the turn of the year.

Two more terminals are also scheduled to be completed by next winter.

According to estimates, around a third of Germany's total gas requirement can be imported via these five terminals.

The cost of acquiring the LNG terminals is reportedly more than double what was originally planned.

The increase to almost 6.6 billion euros was "necessary due to the dynamically developing situation," according to the Federal Ministry of Economics.

The Budget Committee of the Bundestag has just approved additional money for the terminals.