Mayor confident for PCK: verdict brings worries
The mayor of Schwedt/Oder, Annekathrin Hoppe, also sees uncertainty for planned subsidies for the PCK refinery following the budget ruling from Karlsruhe. "Of course we are all worried," the SPD politician told the German Press Agency. "But I have no doubt that the state government will make every effort to ensure that the funds for the transformation at the Schwedt site flow. Nevertheless, we are continuing to work on the projects with all our might for the time being." This concerns the PCK refinery, investments in the future and the planned upgrading of the oil pipeline from Rostock to Schwedt.
In view of the alternatives to Russian oil and the plans to switch to environmentally friendly hydrogen, the mayor believes the refinery is on the right track. "If any refinery in Germany can manage such a transformation process, then it is the Schwedt refinery," said Hoppe. "No other site has such good conditions for access to green electricity." Among other things, she referred to an electricity line at the PCK plant fence and a nearby natural gas pipeline system that could be used for hydrogen. "The aim is to show visible investment as quickly as possible with the first modules for hydrogen production. In the best-case scenario, PCK will break ground by the end of next year."
The refinery in the Uckermark region supplies large parts of north-eastern Germany with fuel. Until the end of 2022, it mainly processed crude oil from Russia. As part of the sanctions imposed due to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, the German government decided to stop using Russian oil. As an alternative, oil comes via the ports of Gdansk and Rostock as well as from Kazakhstan. The majority owners of PCK - two subsidiaries of the Russian state-owned company Rosneft - are under the control of the federal government. In this way, the federal government wants to ensure the continued supply of fuel.
According to the mayor, the mood in Schwedt has improved significantly - even if skepticism remains: "Nobody has lost their job," said Hoppe. "PCK has proven, also with the good specialists, that they are able to process other oils." People had also been worried that the district heating supply in the city was not secure. There had also been forecasts of bottlenecks at filling stations. "None of that happened," she said. "Of course, a certain amount of skepticism remains, but we were able to lift the very bad mood somewhat."
The Federal Constitutional Court had declared a reallocation of 60 billion euros in the 2021 federal budget to be unconstitutional. The federal government is therefore not allowed to use funds intended to combat the coronavirus crisis for climate protection. It remains to be seen whether this will affect funding programs. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) said on Friday that one goal remains to mitigate the consequences of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the impact on Germany. In 2022, the federal government had launched a million-euro program for the climate-friendly future of PCK in Schwedt, among others.
Despite the concerns over budget constraints and the Constitutional Court's ruling, Mayor Hoppe is hopeful that the state government will secure funding for the PCK refinery's transformation, given its strategic location and access to green energy. The transformation of the refinery, which processes oil from various sources and supplies fuel to Northern Germany, is seen as crucial in light of the shift away from Russian oil and towards environmentally friendly hydrogen.
Source: www.dpa.com
