Secure energy supply - First German onshore LNG terminal to be built in Stade
The first construction of a German LNG import terminal on land officially begins on a Friday in Stade near Hamburg. The terminal is expected to start operation in 2027. Several private companies are funding its construction. The costs, according to their statements, are approximately one billion Euros. The groundbreaking ceremony, the symbolic beginning of construction, has been announced by Niedersachsen's Minister-President Stephan Weil (SPD) and Czech Industry Minister Jozef Síkela. The Czech energy company CEZ has booked LNG deliveries in Stade. LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) is liquefied natural gas.
Environmental associations criticize the construction of the terminal. One of them, BUND, is suing the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig against it. A court date has not been scheduled yet, according to a court employee of the German Press Agency.
The Federal Government had promoted the construction of LNG terminals in the North and Baltic Seas after the Russian attack on Ukraine, to become independent of Russian gas deliveries. In Germany, there are currently several floating terminals. These terminals, which consist of a special ship, are intended to be replaced long-term by three terminals on land.
Responsible for the project in Stade is the Hanseatic Energy Hub (HEH) consortium with headquarters in Hamburg. To HEH belong the Hamburg port logistics company Buss-Gruppe, the Swiss private equity firm Partners Group, the Spanish network operator Enagás, and the US chemical company Dow.
Terminals in Stade, Wilhelmshaven, and Brunsbüttel
In addition to Stade, terminals on land are planned in Wilhelmshaven (also in Lower Saxony) and Brunsbüttel (Schleswig-Holstein). The construction of the terminal in Wilhelmshaven is scheduled to begin in 2026. The Federal Ministry of Economics assumes that the terminal will approximately start operation in the middle of 2028. Preparatory measures for the construction of the terminal in Brunsbüttel have been running since March. The plant in Brunsbüttel is expected to start regular operation early in 2027.
In Germany, three floating terminals currently import LNG. These are located in Wilhelmshaven, Brunsbüttel, and Mukran (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern). Another floating terminal, which has already been supplying gas, is being relocated from Lubmin to Mukran. Further floating terminals in Wilhelmshaven and Stade are planned to start regular operation in the second half of the year.
How LNG gets into the gas pipelines
The fossil energy carrier LNG is cooled down to temperatures below minus 160 degrees Celsius and thus loses a large part of its volume from the gaseous state. From 600 cubic meters of gaseous substance, one cubic meter of liquefied LNG is obtained.
After transport in special tankers, LNG is converted back into the gaseous state at terminals at the destination and fed into the natural gas network - or directly used as fuel and energy carrier. Due to the CO2 burden through transport and combustion, the raw material is politically controversial. Critics also point out that more imports would lead to the expansion of the controversial US LNG and fracking industry.
The chairwoman of BUND Niedersachsen, Susanne Gerstner, criticizes that the Stade terminal creates new, long-term dependencies. "The planned operation of the LNG terminal until the end of 2043 stands in stark contrast to the plans of the state of Lower Saxony to be climate-neutral by 2040," she said. According to the LNG Acceleration Law, the terminal must be converted to the use of liquefied ammonia by 2044. The BUND complains that there is no proof of this. The project promoters reject this.
The share of LNG in German gas imports is rather low.
Germany imported relatively little Natural Gas via LNG terminals. The share of total gas imports was 6.4 percent in the first half of the previous year, according to data from the Federal Network Agency based in Bonn. Between early June and the 25th, the share was around eleven percent, as the Federal Network Agency informed the German Press Agency on request.
According to the International Gas Union, 20 countries exported the commodity worldwide in 2023 - with the USA (21 percent of the global total volume), Australia (20), Qatar (19), Russia (8), and Malaysia (7) at the top. The largest among the 51 importers were China, Japan, South Korea, and India, which together accounted for roughly half of global LNG imports. Among the major EU customers were France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Italy. Germany ranked 17th globally.
According to data from the Energy Institute, 549.2 billion cubic meters of LNG were traded worldwide in 2023, compared to 430.4 billion five years earlier and about 326.8 billion in 2013. The global demand was particularly driven by the Asia-Pacific region, while deliveries to Europe, on the other hand, went back for the first time in years - by 1.8 percent compared to the previous year.
Press release BUND Niedersachsen about the LNG Statistical Review of World Energy 2024 by the Energy Institute German Association for Gas and Water Technology Press release Total on LNG Supplier Primagas about LNG International Gas Union Annual Report 2024 Press release HEH on Terminal (21.3)
- The Hanseatic Energy Hub (HEH) consortium, responsible for the project in Stade, includes companies like Buss-Gruppe from Hamburg and Partners Group from Switzerland.
- In addition to Stade, terminals in Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbüttel are also planned in Germany, with construction scheduled for 2026 and 2027 respectively.
- Environmental group BUND, based in Lower Saxony, is challenging the construction of the LNG terminal in Stade at the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig.
- Critics of the LNG terminals, like BUND Niedersachsen's chairwoman Susanne Gerstner, argue that they create new dependencies and contradict Lower Saxony's climate-neutral plans for 2040.
- The construction of the terminal in Brunsbüttel in Schleswig-Holstein has been in preparatory phase since March, with regular operation expected in early 2027.
- The Federal Ministry of Economics anticipates the terminal in Wilhelmshaven to start operation in the middle of 2028, following the commencement of its construction in 2026.
- LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) is a fossil energy carrier that is transported in special tankers, cooled down to temperatures to be converted back into its gaseous state at terminals for direct use or injection into gas pipelines.
- The Czech energy company CEZ has booked LNG deliveries at the terminal in Stade, and 20 countries worldwide exported LNG in 2023, with the USA, Australia, Qatar, Russia, and Malaysia among the top exporters.
- Germany, with its three floating LNG terminals and three planned onshore terminals in Stade, Wilhelmshaven, and Brunsbüttel, ranks 17th globally in LNG imports.
