Part of the Nord Stream lines may come back into service. In any case, the gas infrastructure destroyed after the sabotage of the pipelines could play a role in the construction of the largest liquid gas terminals that the federal government wants to build in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
In mid-February, the Schwerin SPD Economics Minister Reinhard Meyer presented the plans: According to them, two platforms are to be built about 4.5 to 6.5 kilometers from Sellin in the south-east of Rügen, on which floating liquefied natural gas terminals (FSRU) can be installed.
LNG tankers from all over the world can moor at these terminals and hand over their cargo. The gas will then be transported to Lubmin via a roughly 38-kilometer-long connecting pipeline. Excess tubes from the Nord Stream 2 line are to be installed for this purpose.
Habeck’s LNG is to be transported to Lubmin using surplus Nord Stream tubes
According to a report by “Welt am Sonntag”, the federal government is already negotiating with the insolvency administrator of the bankrupt Nord Stream 2 company based in Switzerland about the use of 3000 tubes, which are currently being stored in a port area on the island of Rügen. Nord Stream 2, like the older Nord Stream 1 pipeline, arrives in Lubmin.
The coastal town, for which economic survival has been at stake since the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines, is to continue to be an important import center for energy in the future, according to the federal government’s plans.
A privately operated floating import terminal for LNG is already in operation there, and a feeder pipeline has yet to be laid for another state-chartered terminal ship.
The stored excess Nord Stream pipes are to be used for this line – from off the coast of Rügen to Lubmin. The new line will run parallel to Nord Stream 2. Allegedly, the use of the pipes that had already been laid was even considered – which would be politically sensitive, however, since Russia would also have to be asked about it.
RWE is the federal government’s contractor for the Baltic Sea LNG project – but distances itself
The plans for the LNG terminal at sea off Rügen overshadow all previous landing points for LNG in Germany. The project, which the energy group RWE is to promote, envisages a feed-in capacity of up to 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.
For comparison: Nord Stream 1 transported almost 60 billion cubic meters in 2021. In a first step, a first terminal station with a floating FSRU is scheduled to go into operation at the end of 2023.
In 2024, the terminal is to be expanded to a total of two platforms for up to four FSRUs, which will result in the high feed-in capacity. On request, the energy company RWE confirmed that it was working as a contractor for the federal government in the Baltic Sea LNG project.
However, a spokesman qualified: The federal government must decide how and where the project will be continued. Incidentally, RWE assumes that it will hand over the project to other companies in the course of the year. It is not part of the group’s core business.
The Essen-based energy supplier is thus distancing itself a bit from the supply of LNG, which it had previously promoted. The group had previously emphasized that they were responsible for the operation of the floating LNG systems already in use. “RWE first makes all commercial decisions relating to the use of the ships and optimizes them in the interests of the federal government.”
The Ministry of Economics does not want to give any information about the details of the project
The reason for the new caution is not only the combination with the politically highly controversial Nord Stream line. The local protests are also making things difficult for the project operators: The German Environmental Aid announced “to exhaust all legal possibilities to stop this gigantic industrial plant in front of Rügen”.
Climate protectors see the project as a commitment to the use of fossil fuels. In addition to negative effects on nature, neighboring communities and politicians also fear possible disadvantages for tourism.
In addition, it is now disputed whether more LNG terminals need to be built at all. The gas storage facilities can already be sufficiently filled with the help of the eleven terminals in Germany, some of which have already been completed or are under construction.
In addition, against the background of the desired climate neutrality, gas should only be used as a “bridging technology” until renewable energies are available in sufficient quantities.
There is therefore no final decision on the plans for Rügen. “Discussions between the parties involved are still ongoing. Therefore, no information can be given about the details of the project,” says the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The contribution “Habecks LNG should land with us with Nord Stream tubes of all things” comes from WirtschaftsKurier.
