BERLIN, 14 Jan. (DPA/EP) –
This Saturday the second German floating liquefied natural gas terminal began operating in Lubmin, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in an act attended by Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“We are going to overcome this winter. Everyone realizes it at home. The gas supply has not been affected,” Scholz highlighted in an optimistic intervention.
“There has been no economic crisis in Germany either,” Scholz added before mentioning the million-dollar aid programs and the rapid construction of gas infrastructures to guarantee supply after distancing from Russia. “The price of gas on world markets is also falling here in Europe, including Germany,” she stressed.
Scholz has visited the terminal, the second after the Wilhelmshaven terminal was put into operation in December, a ship of almost 300 meters in length, the ‘Höegh Esperanza’, permanently anchored.
These floating terminals intend to make up for Germany’s natural gas deficit by importing from abroad after the open crisis with Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.
Another three regasification plants should be operating by the end of the year in Brunsbuettel (Schleswig-Holstein) and Stade (Lower Saxony), as well as another one also located in Wilhelmshaven.
In total, they will contribute some 5,000 million cubic meters of natural gas per year, still far from the almost 60,000 million that Russia contributed in 2021. Scholz approved the construction of the plants on February 27, three days after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the country has reserves of 90 percent of its total capacity thanks in part to reduced consumption.
