However, experts warn that storage will not be enough to get through the winter and cover private consumption and industrial needs.
Germany appears to have overcome difficulties in cutting off Russian gas supplies in retaliation for sanctions against Moscow over the war in Ukraine. Last Tuesday, the country’s gas reserves reached 100%, coinciding with the inauguration in Wilhelmshaven, on the shores of the North Sea, of the first port terminal for the reception of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The European Gas Infrastructure Association GIE has announced that the deposits of gas reserves in this country contain 245.44 terawatts/hour up to their maximum capacity. However, experts warn that these reserves will not be enough to survive the winter and cover private consumption and industrial needs. In January and February of this year alone, Germany consumed 227 terawatt hours of gas, according to data from the Federal Network Office. For this reason, to meet its needs in the coldest season of the year, it depends on the continuous supply from Norway and the commissioning of the port terminals to receive LNG.
For this reason, the government of Berlin and the authorities of the state of Lower Saxony have celebrated the commissioning and connection to the national gas network of the terminal in the port of Wilhelmshaven, which was built in just a few months. Next month, a special ship, a regasification and floating storage installation, will anchor there, where they will be able to unload large gas tankers loaded with LNG in early 2023. “The early decision to choose Wilhelmshaven as a platform for LNG imports has proven to be the right one,” says Olaf Lies, head of economics in the Lower Saxony government.
His colleague from Environment, the green Christian Meyer, emphasized that the new terminal makes a decisive contribution to guaranteeing the energy supply in his region and in Germany. “The aim is to switch to climate-neutral green gases as soon as possible and for Wilhelmshaven to become a platform for green hydrogen and the import of renewable energy into the North Sea,” said Meyer.
Work on the construction of the first German port terminal to receive liquefied gas began last May. Another twin terminal is expected to be commissioned in the same port at the end of 2023. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Germany and Europe have struggled to have other sources of gas due to reduced supplies from Russia, which supplied more than half of the country’s needs until the war began. In addition to a sharp increase in the purchase of natural gas from Norway, Germany expects to meet a large part of its needs with the new LNG terminals, which will mainly be supplied from the United States and Qatar.
Source: La Verdad
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