Page 8 - EurOil Week 04 2023

EurOil COMMENTARY EurOil

Source: German LNG
Terminal.

Previously, Germany had been plagued by The three new floating LNG terminals will
public projects running significantly past dead- make it feasible to increase LNG imports by 13
lines and over budget. Consequently, the LNG bcm. The three additional floating LNG termi-
Acceleration Act has been touted as a blueprint nals under construction will expand capacity by
for policy, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz another 19 bcm.
coining the term “Deutschland-Tempo” to high- Onshore LNG terminals are also under con-
light Germany’s policy shift to bring infrastruc- struction and the government assess that by next
ture projects forward more quickly. winter peak capacity will reach 44.5 bcm.
Germany will also ramp-up construction of According to Reuters, by the end of 2022
three more FSRU’s before next winter as stor- state-lender KfW had spent 17 billion euros
age supplies will need to be both refilled and ($18 billion) on filling up gas caverns, while also
increased during the summer months, as it seeks spending 9 billion euros ($9.8 billion) on gas
insurance in the case that a terminal or pipeline from non-Russian sources, and 4 billion euros
fails. ($4.4 billion) purchasing LNG.
The country has achieved gas savings this
year with households and businesses using about Green Molecules Hub
30% less gas than usual. Currently, gas stocks are As a centre of technology and industry, the
more than 80% full, which will allow Germany Brunsbuettel Elbehafen terminal is also expect-
to get to March even in a prolonged cold spell. ed to play a bigger role in the import of green
Nevertheless, acknowledging that this winter molecules in the future. RWE has revealed
has been mild, Berlin is determined to increase plans to build an import terminal for green am-
supply ahead of next winter in the case of an monia in the nearby vicinity.
unusually cold winter. The addition of an import terminal for
green ammonia would signal a key step for-
Filling the gap ward in supplying the country with green
Germany previously imported as much as 55 hydrogen. Plans for the terminal would see it
bcm per year from Russia via the Nord Stream be capable of importing a capacity of approx-
1 pipeline, which Moscow shut off in August. imately 300,000 tonnes per year of green
In its shift away from Russian gas, the coun- ammonia by 2026.
try has leaned on its neighbours to plug the Meanwhile, another floating LNG terminal
hole importing LNG from the Netherlands, in Stade-Butzfleth, which began construction
France, and Belgium, while also increasing on January 24 will be replaced in 2027 with a
flows from Norway, which now accounts for land-based zero-emission terminal for LNG
one-third of its imports. Germany is also look- as well as bio-LNG and Synthetic Natural Gas,
ing to the US and the Gulf for a large portion with an option to also import ammonia as a
of its gas. carrier for hydrogen. ™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 04 26•January•2023