Scholz and Habeck expected at the start of the LNG terminal

Created: 01/06/2023, 12:25 p.m

The "Neptune" enters the port of Lubmin.

© Stefan Sauer/dpa/Archive

According to the company, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) are also expected to officially start up the Lubminer terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) on Saturday next week (January 14).

Together with Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig and Agriculture Minister Till Backhaus (both SPD), the last outstanding operating license should be handed over to the operators, the company Deutsche Regas announced on Friday.

Lubmin - Germany relies on LNG delivered by ship to replace missing Russian gas supplies.

On Thursday, the responsible Schwerin Ministry of the Environment gave the green light for the terminal.

From Monday, the documents are to be made available for inspection again for four days and published on the Internet.

"The approval notice can then be signed and officially handed over," Backhaus was quoted as saying.

Like other LNG terminals, the terminal in Lubmin was built and approved in a hurry.

The company Deutsche Regas only submitted such applications last summer.

The most important construction work in Lubmin's industrial port was completed in autumn after around two and a half months.

The interaction of several ships should enable the injection of up to 5.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually.

Deutsche Regas speaks of a "virtual pipeline".

The privately financed terminal is one of the first operational LNG terminals in Germany.

In Wilhelmshaven, Lower Saxony, natural gas was fed in for the first time at the end of last year as part of a test run.

A terminal in Brunsbüttel in Schleswig-Holstein is to be launched shortly.

Further systems are to follow.

dpa